It's My Mower and I'll Shoot If I Want To

I ran across this article today - in brief, a man got violently angry at his lawn mower when it wouldn't start and decided that rather than give up, he would give shooting it a go. Because it's a rare known secret that shooting lawn mowers sometimes miraculously fixes them.

Sure, the man probably should have controlled his frustration and left his gun in the closet. He also probably should not have been mowing the lawn or operating a gun while drunk. But what surprised me was that he could spend more than 6 years in prison paying for his momentary outburst.

I realize that drinking and shooting a gun could actually be really dangerous, and so I see why it is such a serious thing. But honestly, sending this guy to prison for 6 years because he assaulted his lawn mower seems a little bit excessive. Couldn't our tax dollars be put to better use?