What is stupid is usually the parents that have not taught the kids properly, or garnered their kids respect. In addition they don't recognize this and don't take the precautions that are needed. The days of personal responsibity are not what they once were unfortunately and we all are paying the price for others mistakes.

What if you don't have kids? My daughter is 6 mo old and cannot even walk yet. Does that make me ineligable to protect my family?

Of course I think in many cases it is not smart to have guns in the open around kids. It did not use to be a problem though. When people were allowed do disciplin their kids and they listened to their parents, they understood the consequences.

I have guns in the house and because of this she will be educated about them and their consequences. I am most concerned about night time when everyone is sleeping. No real need to have a gun handy all the time, but we live in a cape and there is no exit from the bedrooms upstairs. Essentially if there are intruders in the house I have to go through them to get out. I would like to be able to legally have a weapon handy at night to protect my family. It can be put away and locked the rest of the time, because I am allowed to carry if I want although I do not because I do not feel it is neccesary. When I am sleeping it would be rather uncomfortable to wear it therefore it must be put somewhere and to be legal it must be locked.
Do you understand the problem now?