Sometimes there are no practical solutions to a conundrum.

I reside in a seventeen floor apartment building; I am lucky enough to live on the second floor.

There have only been two 'small' emergencies over the last ten years.

       A small fire in the laundry room
       A bit of flooding (due to a faulty sprinkler system?)

We do have five? fire alarms a year.

The conundrum that we face involves the two elevators that service the residents. These lifts shut down automatically with every fire alarm.

Now it is just too difficult for many residents to go down the stairs due to disabilities, especially those who reside above the fifth or sixth floors. And this problem does not even take into account those stuck in wheel chairs.

This is a government subsidized structure and the aim is for rent to remain at 30% of one's income.

This is a nice place to reside.
   It has a good sewage system.
   It has a good water system.
   It has a good heating system.
   Each unit has a nice kitchen with a fridge and stove and cupboards.
   Each unit has a nice living room, bathroom and bedroom.
   We have access to stores/markets within 6-8 blocks.

I cannot see the possibility of a new elevator system; unless some engineer figured out how to install an elevator system on the outside?

I just find that the fire alarms non-productive for 30% of the residents.

One important note: the fire station is within four blocks.(Another note: Take a gander at the Dubai debacle that just occurred today)

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/world-news/dubai-new-years-eve-fireworks-fire

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Sometimes there are no practical solutions to a conundrum.

Lately, we have been inundated by the messages sent to us from the various gun lobbies.

In the face of 30,000 + deaths per year attributed to gun play in the country; what
is a mother to do?

Pandora opened her box of evil centuries ago and no one is capable of collecting that evil and putting it back in its container.

Liberals like Bill Maher not only fess up to owning guns due to hate mail and threats directed at them weekly; some hire round-the-clock guards to ensure their safety.

I am sure that this sort of self defense applies to right wing pundits as well including the Bill
O'Reilly's of this world. How many threats are made against Billo every damned day?

I am sure that the Bills and Billos sought out training with regard to the use of weaponry!

Of course neither Bill or Billo have children running around their palaces. Although I
would guess that children arrive from time to time in the form of grandchildren or
nephews or nieces.

But for the younger or middle aged middle class parents there is no 'answer' to issues
posed by our increasingly violent cultural forces.

For those who cannot afford armed guards, a weapon of some sort holds hope; hope of some defense against evil people with evil aims.

Pretend you are a young parent. You decide to purchase a weapon.
Okay, now where do you put that weapon? Do you 'hide' it in the closet fully armed? Or
do you put the gun on your night stand?

Or do you stick the damned thing in a safe? 

If the weapon is in the safe, how do you access it in the face of some attacking felon?

And yet we all know what may happen if you leave your loaded gun in the closet or on the 
night stand or on the kitchen counter.

And how sure can you be that you or your spouse or your teen-age child might just not have
a psychotic break of some sort?  Or that you might just have a series of bad days 'knowing'
that a final solution can be had within your reach?

After all, most fatal shootings involve suicide.

We have stats and anecdotal evidence regarding the consequences of our Second Amendment Rights. Neither types of evidence 'convince' either side of the issue.

Many of us wish TO DO SOMETHING.

I would ban assault rifles; however that term is defined.

I guess I would not be against limiting magazine capacity; although I do not know how 
effective that limitation might be.

I do think that there should be licensing requirements as well as some registry. I mean
this works for cars?

Background checks should be an imperative--for people on probation and for people on parole and for felons? What is a felon exactly.

Accusations of domestic abuse as a prohibition against purchasing or keeping weapons 
becomes troublesome to me. Due process? And yet we make the 'accused' come up with bail?

Those accused of being 'insane' becomes an issue to me.

Should all psychiatric records be sent to some government agency.

We have seen the doctor/patient privilege decay more and more every damned year.

I just do not see available answers to one of our nation's greatest threats:

BULLETS

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2015/12/24/1463089/-Cartoon-Thank-goodness-for- Goodguy-With-A-Gun?detail=email

http://www.salon.com/2015/12/30/congress_wants_to_hide_the_truth_from_you_pols_ again_shamelessly_refuse_to_lift_federal_ban_on_gun_violence_research/

 https://www.dailykos.com/campaigns/1544?detail=email

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/obama-background-checks_

568558c0e4b0b958f65b9142?utm_hp_ref=politics

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/texas-gun-law_568577f3e4b06fa688825386?
utm_hp_ref=politics

http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-leads-world-in-mass-shootings-1443905359

http://www.inquisitr.com/2667489/california-gun-confiscation-goes-into-effect-
on-january-1/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_the_United_States
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/statistics-surrounding-gun-violence-the-us

http://www.ccmu.org/blog/pulling-the-trigger/?gclid=CJ2H0Jz-hsoCFQEcaQodVJ4BZA

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2015/12/26/a-year-of-reckoning- police-fatally-shoot-nearly-1000/

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/07/07/the-rise-of-gun-violence-as-a-public-health-issue

http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/the-toll-gun-violence-children