I understand that as a liberal, you'd consider the schools, judges, and media as being neutral. However, we Conservtives are faced with 90% of the media leaning left or far left. One might deduce that the 90% must be correct in their reasoning, coverage, and conclusions because of the weight of coverage. I don't think so! When you and I were in our teens, FOX NEWS would have been considered left of center. Now, many consider FOX NEWS as a far right organization. The example I like to use is JFK. I voted for JFK in a High School "election", one of only 2 persons in my High Schools who did so. In today's world of US politics, JFK would be considered a radical, rightwing Conservative!
Pistols and muskets were state-of-the-art weapons when our Constitution was written. They are no longer state-of-the-art weapons. Nevertheless, our founders unquestionably intended that every citizen had the RIGHT to defend himself/herself against ANY weapon that any individual or the government could bring to bear on him/her. The undertood purpose of the 2nd Amendment was to protect the individual from others who'd harm him/her, and to protect us against a government that might ignore our Constitutionally-guaranteed Rights! Justification of my position can be found in the writings of Jefferson, Madison, and other founding fathers.
I fully agree! Knowledge and/or a college degree does not necessarily indicate intelligence, and certainly doesn't equate to "good character". That's why I argued that it's the character of individuals that best indicates the likelihood that a citizen will be lawful or unlawful!
I'm positive that teaching "responsibility" will make a huge difference, as long as there are legal and social "punishments" for being irresponsible! However, if individuals are allowed to commit crimes, misdemeanors, and stupid mistakes with little or no personal consequences, there is no incentive to prohibit bad and/or stupid behavior.
NO solution could be 100% effective. However, the solution I recommended would have the best results IF it was implemented.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too, and everyone else here at HOP.
