I would ask you to consider the probability of a home invasion where you live. If the probability of home invasion is very small, than the risk of a child accidentally injuring themselves or another with the firearm -- however small this probability is -- may outweight the risk of home invasion. On the other hand, if the risk of home invasion is high, this may outweigh the risk of a child accidentally injuring themselves or another. This is the most important analysis to make. Unfortunately our world is not risk free. What we need to do is intelligently manage our risks. Speaking for myself, the risk where I live of home invasion is very, very low. I keep gun locks on all my firearms and keep my ammunition locked up in a separate box. It would probably take me 5 minutes to get a firearm ready to fire in my house. In another circumstance, I might want a firearm more readily accessible.

If your risk of home invasion is considerable, maybe there is a way to keep your firearm "ready" while minimizing the risk of a child doing this? One way of thinking about this problem is by accepting some minimum time to "make ready" your firearm -- for example, 60 seconds. When you are in your home with your door locked, how much lead time would you expect to have before the criminal was upon you? Maybe you can keep the handgun unlocked but somewhat out of reach and keep a loaded clip stashed out of reach of a young child or on your person? I suggest thinking along these lines.

Most importantly, balance your risks and do not foolishly imagine that a zero risk solution exists, at least this is my view.