CNN trying to take advantage of the tragedy of the 9 year old.
Freak accidents will happen and yes he should have been more careful, such as holding the gun to start with to see if she could have handled it.
Daddy started us off on a .22 bolt action. He probably would have used a pellet gun but they were not available in our area.
I started my Daughter off with a low powered air rifle, then a medium power air pistol then a .22 single shot.
One day maybe 40 years ago, I took a bunch of my Nieces and Nephew down to the creek on my parents land. Some had never fired a gun but we all had good safe fun.
My Niece wanted to fire the .44 Magnum. I told her I didn’t think that was a good idea but she insisted so I let her. She was around 5’7” and runner up in a state beauty pageant. She was also surprisingly strong.
I told her how to aim, squeeze the trigger and to hold the gun tightly but not like you are trying to strangle a weasel. Don’t be afraid of the recoil and allow it to roll in your hands.
With eye and hearing protection, she fired all six shots and wanted to shoot more but I had to let others have a go too.
The vast amount of our shooting was with a .22 bolt action and pellet rifles.
I taught my son on a Winchester 57 “gallery gun” I picked up at an auction for IIRC $50. Single shot bolt action .22, with a manual hammer.