This is not a "knee-jerk reaction". NASA did the study years ago, and by all accounts the data suggests that short naps improve pilot performance. We're talking about a 10-20 minute nap in cruise while the other pilot is monitoring and an alarm is set. This could be done with a kitchen timer.

It's a safety issue. For the price of a kitchen timer safety could be significantly improved. It doesn't mean that new duty time rules aren't required, but it would supplement them. No matter how the rules are changed there will be times when a short nap would be beneficial. I would like to have a procedure where I could take a nap legally in order to improve performance.

As a side note, this is not a case were a little is good and more is better. Once you enter the REM phase of sleep it is much more difficult to awaken and you will not feel as rested. All of us has experienced this at one time or another when we fall asleep for 45 minutes or an hour and have to wake up. You may feel disoriented and it takes a long time to feel rested, this would not be good and is why it's important to put an alarm in the cockpit.