USA TODAY is worried about firearms accidents over the Christmas Season.

This is the season for gun accidents. Deaths spike during the holidays.:

The happiest of seasons is also among the deadliest: Unintentional shootings spike during the holidays, and are more likely to occur than any other time of the year, according to an analysis by The Associated Press and the USA TODAY Network. 

The newsmag points out that firearms are often gifts, and the recipients are often untrained.

That's probably true ... and who is responsible for that?

The victims were mostly male and young, with a median age of 19. Nearly half the shootings were self-inflicted, and most occurred in their own homes. The victims are people like Tezlar Wayne Ross, a 20-year-old from Gaffney, South Carolina, who killed himself while playing with a handgun at his home last New Year’s Eve.

It's easy to dismiss this as "Darwinian", but one wonders who buys guns for untrained adolescents and/or "young adults"?

The article also mentions "unsecured guns at their homes" and "alcohol" may be involved.

Ultimately, it's not so much a problem with the activity of immature males as it is a problem with irresponsible parents.

Responsible Parents Don't:

• Give their child a firearm until they know he/she respects the gun, and he/she is sufficiently well-trained in firearms safety to always handle the gun safety;
• Give their child ammunition at the same time;
• Allow their child to 'play' with guns;
• Allow their child access to firearms except under direct parental supervision;
• Assume that their child is less of an idiot than his/her parent!
• Note that a pistol might not be the best "first gun".

Articles such as this one might serve as a warning to others, but unfortunately there are enough irresponsible parents to make it unlikely that their children will have learned to be better than they have been taught.