Virginia Beach et al: The following was my response to another friend: No simple answer to your question, Laurie. But five that come to mind are: 1) Not only simply effecting more gun control, but also taking steps to remove the proliferation of guns from our society. That means removing the profit incentive from gun manufacturers and dealers, in addition to ridding ourselves of the N.R.A. 2) Having stricter laws to criminalize the public use of hate-filled rhetoric – whether in print or electronic media – especially by those holding leadership positions, along with their aides. Safe-guarding our cherished freedom of speech in such a way as to prevent its public use irresponsibly. 3) Electronic games inciting or encouraging the likelihood of violence – in young and old – should be removed from the market. There have been numerous studies to indicate its effect on those who indulge in such games. 4) Ridding all law enforcement agencies of militarized weapons, whose possession and use have become a means for the Pentagon and armed forces to unload their surplus weapons so as to allow the manufacture and use of more advanced weaponry. 5) And finally, to, once and for all, bring to extinction the war economy upon which the military-industrial-political complex has relied for far too long. War should become a relic of the past as a no longer viable institution. Conflicts on all levels of society must be resolved through other means. Swords into plowshares, remember?