The nuns who broke into a Colorado missile silo and poured their blood onto the silo, covering a 300-kiloton high-alert nuclear missile, could face six to nine years in prison.

They have already served seven months in jail awaiting their trials. The sisters should receive punishment, but the six to nine years of prison time for petty crimes should be reconsidered.

The proposed jail time seems to be extremely long for anyone who does not actually destroy property. Breaking and entering is a crime, but the women only poured blood in the shape of crosses on the nuclear weapon's silo. That type of crime does not warrant a maximum nine-year sentence.

But perhaps what's more important is that security should be enhanced at the missile silo. For three nuns to be able to break into a sensitive government area speaks very poorly about the facility's staff.

The women got to play MacGyver as the dressed as weapon inspectors and broke into the silo, cutting a linked fence surrounding the compound and staying undetected for up to an hour. If there is a nuclear weapon at a government facility, security should be very tight. Imagine if these nuns were a trio of al-Qaida terrorists looking to launch the weapon.

Carol Gilbert, one of the nuns involved, said she has been protesting nuclear weapons since the late 1970s. She also said the nuns have received jail time and community service for their past protests. So maybe it's time the women get some type of counseling.

The seven-month period the nuns served while awaiting sentencing is longer than any of their other jail terms.

If being behind bars didn't worked in the past, then it's time for a change. Imprisonment is not going to deter them from supporting their beliefs, so counseling might be a better idea.

Ultimately, the ones who should receive the harshest punishment are the guards at this nuclear missile silo. This isn't to say the nuns didn't do anything wrong - they did. But their sentence seems to be too much given the crime they committed.