The people in this home obviously thought so.  Look at the picture, I cam across it a few days ago during a home inspection.

There should be a guard rail at the right hand side of the bottom of the stairs from the wall to the tile along the line where the stairs meet the wood floor.  Can you imagine if you were walking down the stairs at night...  What if you fell down the stairs?  You'd just keep on going.  What about children or elderly going up and down the stairs?  The sad part is that there was a child safety gate at the top of the stairs, but apparently the bottom of the stairs were just fine?

The only thing I could think of is that they didn't like the look of the guard rail that used to be there.  Aesthetics is a small thing to compromise to insure safety.

I hope this gives you a little more information about a home inspection and how valuable a home inspection can be.  Be safe out there.