Laws do not protect. They punish. If laws protected kids, then no kids would get run over.
You need to re-analyze the way you think of the law. Criminal law should be a reactive punishment for hurting someone. When you have laws that try to "play the odds" and punish people who have no bad intentions and didn't hurt anyone, then you have laws that proactively punish, creating the nightmarish nanny state that we have today.
I'm quite comfortable with the way I think of the law.
Do you think it should be okay for your neighbor to stand just off your property and shoot his gun across your yard or at the birds sitting on your roof? By your logic he should be allowed to do it all day long so long as he doesn't miss and hit your or your house. Sure there will be penalties if he kills someone, but a lot of good it's going to do if you're dead. Theoretically the penalty you're imposing should deter him, but there's no guarantee. Proactive laws also depend on people fearing the consequences, but they also serve as guidelines for people who are too stupid to know better. It gives a police officer the authority to order someone to stop their reckless behavior. I'd rather an officer have the ability to tell someone to stop shooting at your house before they kill you rather than letting them do it and then punishing them. If you let people do whatever they want then nobody has any right to tell them to stop endangering the lives of others. I think those in authority should use common sense when enforcing the laws, but I don't want to take away their ability to prevent crime. The system in place is far from perfect but it's better than not trying to prevent tragedies.