If a child is taught to respect firearms and use proper gun safety on a pellet or bb gun they are 9 times out of 10 safer around real firearms. When you tell children that guns are bad and not to touch them that creates curiosity and mystery to it. This means that if they come across a gun they will likely look at it and play with it which is what leads to accidents. Where as if they were taught about firearm safety and had handled firearms supervised before it would be just another thing.