Evidence of bad parenting is everywhere you look these days, but when a child ends up paying for a parent's neglect or incompetence with his or her life, the parent responsible deserves to be punished.  The reaction of the justice system can be swift and harsh — or not — apparently depending on whether or not guns are involved.  At least that seems to be the case with two tragic incidents involving the death of a child that both occurred last year, each a direct result of appallingly bad judgment on the part of a parent. 

You'll recall the first: gun enthusiast Dr. Charles Bizilj took his eight year old son to a gun show in Westfield, Mass., where the boy, unable to handle the uzi he was given, ended up shooting himself repeatedly in the head.

The other incident involved a single dad, Robert Aragon, who, according to the AP, sent his two kids to walk ten miles to their mother's in frigid temperatures when his truck got stuck in a snow drift on the way to her house.  Only one of the children survived.  His 11 year old daughter died of hypothermia.  It was Christmas Day. 

Both appalling, avoidable tragedies, where childred paid with their lives for the brazen stupidity of their parents.  But only one of the two deadly dads has been charged with a crime.  Aragon has been jailed on $500,000 bond for second-degree murder and felony injury to a child.  Which is well and good.  But Bizilj remains free. 

There have been charges in the Bizilj case: the police chief, the gun club, and two gun dealers all face involuntary manslaughter charges.  But the DA has said Bazilj needn't be charged.  "He is already being punished and will continue to be punished" in mourning his son's death for the rest of his life. 

I have no beef with the DA going after the police chief, the gun club, and the dealers — though I'm not so sure the charges will stick — but Bazilj should be charged, too.  Mourning for the child whose life you were ultimately responsible for when you made the decision that led to his death is not a punishment, it's the logical, foreseeable outcome of that decision.  Punishment is when someone holds you accountable for making a decision with a foreseeably fatal outcome. 

Bazilj can mourn just as well in prison — maybe even better.  And anyway, we need fewer stupid parents on the streets.

But if you think prison is too harsh a punishment, I have another idea.  Drop Aragon and Bazilj in the middle of Antarctica, or the Alaskan wilderness — any place isolated and wicked cold will do. Aragon in nothing but his long johns with an uzi.  Give Bazilj a ten minute head start, and tell Aragon you'll be back later (like, maybe in a week or two) to give him a lift out, provided he's able to nail Bazilj in the meantime, and keep from freezing to death himself. 

I know it sounds kinda mean, but then karma's a bitch, innit?