Sorry to hear you're having this experience. I grew up with guns of all sorts and still keep a few. We tend to live out in the boondocks where police response times are measured in hours. We also keep big dogs. We love GSD's and currently live with 2. I feel they have been a far greater deterrent than any gun. But failing that, both my wife and I are very familiar with our firearms. We understand them for the very dangerous tools they are and give them the respect they are due. We have no children (other than the GSD's) so we don't have that concern. I'd echo the other excellent recommendations in this thread for safety training. I hope this is just an isolated incident and that you will never have to use your firearm outside of target practice.