Democrats in the House and Senate have put forward legislation that would make it illegal for kids under age 16 to own or even handle machine guns or assault-style weapons.

The Help End Assault Rifle Tragedies Act, or the HEART Act, is a response to incidents at gun shows in which young children accidentally kill adults while handling weapons.

"The small hands of children and big power of machine guns are a deadly combination," said Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. "The HEART Act is simple and straightforward: It prohibits the transfer of a machine gun or semiautomatic weapon to anyone under the age of 16."

"Not at a gun range, not at a gun show, not while hunting, not anywhere, anytime," he said.

Markey said an eight-year-old child in his home state accidentally killed himself while firing an Uzi at a gun show. And in Arizona, a nine-year-old killed a firearms instructor with an Uzi.

Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., sponsored the House version of the bill, and said that while the country is divided on gun control, Congress should at least agree to keep guns away from young children.

"Incidents across the country have proven that kids and powerful firearms are a dangerous and tragic mix," he said.

The House bill is cosponsored by five other House Democrats: Reps. Mike Honda and Barbara Lee of California, Reps. Michael Capuano and Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, and Rep. Robin Kelly of Illinois.

The Senate version is cosponsored by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.