I remember reading this story a little while back. In this mornings paper, I saw it again.

An 8-year-old in Boston accidentally shot himself to death with an Uzi.

His father, who probably won't be up for Dad of the Year honors, took him to an annual machine gun shoot. The event states that there's no minimum age and no licenses required to shoot machine guns at pumpkins and "other fun stuff we can't print here."

Geez...what happened to kids carving pumpkins in their local church parking lot? Or going to some cheesy haunted mansion?

But little Christopher was no novice. He had been shooting guns since he was 5. When he grabbed the automatic Micro Uzi, with no adult bracing the shot, he squeezed the trigger, lost control of the recoil, and took a shot to the head.

Apparently, in Massachusetts, there's no minimum age to fire a gun.

Now, I'm not one of these anti-gun people. I'm a Democrat that has no problem with the NRA and think they often get a bum rap. But I do say, if something like this happens, every adult involved that was careless, should do some serious jail time.

The father, I don't care how much he may be grieving, should be sitting in a cell. The people putting on the gun show, should be charged with something.

Even if the kid didn't lose control, what would've happened if he just had a fight with his older brother Timmy (so many Timmy's were bad little boys). He turns around and shoots him. Or maybe his dad didn't buy him that new bicycle (or new Glock). Maybe he deserves a few slugs in the knee and thigh from a semi-automatic.

So, any of you hunters out there...or people that just keep a gun in the closet or under your bed in case you have intruders....if your child finds it and kills someone (or themself), you should do 20 years. If that risk still makes it worth you having a gun in your home, by all means, go for it. We have the right to bear arms.

But we should have the right to jail idiots, too.