BOSTON (AP) — U.S. Sen. Edward Markey has filed legislation that would ban children under the age of 16 from firing machine guns and assault weapons, including at gun shows and shooting ranges and while hunting.

Markey pointed to an incident that occurred in 2008 in Westfield, Massachusetts, when an 8-year-old child accidentally killed himself while firing an Uzi submachine gun at a gun show.

The Massachusetts Democrat unveiled the bill Tuesday at a press conference in Washington.

Markey was joined by the children of Charles Vacca, a firearms instructor who was killed in Arizona in 2014 by a 9-year-old who lost control of an Uzi.


The bill is co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat.

Any bill limiting gun rights likely faces daunting odds in the Republican-controlled Congress this year.