MY LIST OF FIVE

I offer these suggestions:

1) Enforce existing laws regarding the criminal use, abuse or
possession of firearms. Convicted felons, attempting to purchase a gun
or caught possessing one, should be arrested and prosecuted.

2) Decriminalize drug use and thereby make room in the prisons for
violent offenders. Did we learn nothing from Prohibition?

3) Wage an intensive campaign of education against irresponsible
parenthood. The obliviousness of the parents of the Columbine killers
is a prime example of our current misbegotten gift of almost total
freedom to adolescents.

4) Follow the example of the National Rifle Association in promoting
the safe and responsible use of firearms, rather than demonizing an
inanimate object.

5) Accept the fact that we live in a dynamic, pluralistic society with
many competitive factions - cultural, religious, racial, ethnic,
economic, etc. - all vying for a part of the American dream. We cannot
be compared to other countries with their particular constitutions,
cultures and ways of life. We can have individual freedom or we can
have a large degree of security. While we cannot have both, we can
hope for a good balance between the two.