Props to Biden for acknowledging the massacre of 1.5M Armenians in 1915

Way to jump on the bandwagon and get it completely wrong by not actually reading the thread. Not that you're completely wrong about some of the posts on here, but perhaps read before posting a reply. Also, you should recognize that the three of you just did the exact thing you just stated others were doing.
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Never believe. Always question. Belief, a.k.a. bias, a.k.a. groupthink, a.k.a. ideology is the bane of skeptical, logical reason

Wow, that’s a complete 180. I appreciate that effort instead of continuing the flame game. Knowing myself, this reply will be long, so please don’t respond unless you read it in its entirety and thoughtfully contemplate a response. I don’t blame you if you just want to ignore it. This will be more stream of consciousness than anything organized, so may be subject to correction and refinement (on the other hand, so should everything be).

I don’t have enough detailed first-hand knowledge to speak to the efficacy of your first idea. It would need to be researched and planned out by those in a position to adequately do so. But I think it sounds like a worthy goal, and with you being a resident you’d have insight into that specific situation. Anything that gives youngsters a place for education, perhaps removing them from environments that condition them toward a gang lifestyle, has value.

Which dovetails into what in my view is the only thing that can truly in the long run start to help rectify the root of the problem: a change in culture. This would include an effort to teach less fortunate people that they aren’t victims and that with effort, and a helping hand, they can pull themselves out of the mire. It’s all about mindset. They’re already in dire circumstances, and them being told daily that they’re victims only depresses and suppresses them further. I’ve personally witnessed that a little bit of help and lot of encouragement goes a very long way.

But giving them endless free money doesn’t help them. It traps them. And it’s a trap that’s perpetuated generationally, snowballing as time goes on into the mess we have today. It’s all of our faults. We stood by for decades throwing money at the problem, but money can at best only serve as a temporary band aid, and like crack cocaine people can build a dependency on getting it free. Instead, they need to be encouraged and taught to help themselves, to rise up and work for what they want, to find a sense of purpose and sense of belonging to a larger, shared culture. Humans have evolved the need to have a sense of purpose. There is no easy fix. It will take time and effort and generations to resolve, but this is really the only way out the hole, long-term.

For your second idea, I don’t think making all handguns illegal is feasible. Not that I wouldn’t snap my fingers and make all guns disappear if I had an Infinity Gauntlet, but that’s about how magical that solution would need to be to actually work. The U.S. is so saturated with handguns, with so many people attached to them, and there are so many already illegally owned by criminal elements, that it would never fly. Making selling firearms illegal (as opposed to or in addition to owning them) might be more effective, but laws in this regard tend to hinder only law-abiding citizens. They do little to stop criminals. All it would do is take guns away from those who need to defend themselves, or it would force them to become criminals themselves by obtaining them illegally.

I’m also not sure that handing out assault rifles is a good idea, although if an individual is ex-military perhaps there is something to the notion that they would qualify as part of a “well-regulated militia”. But a true assault rifle is a weapon of war, and should only be handled by military personal with extensive training, certainly no redneck, gun-crazy yahoo who might pop off at any moment. However, we already in effect have a well-regulated militia with the National Guard. Perhaps expanding the role and purpose of that organization is something to consider. But even if some new militia is put together, proper training is an imperative, and like you say it must be well-regulated.

When it comes to civilian-owned firearms, I see two essentials: 1.) legally owning a non-militarized, i.e. “civilian grade”, firearm should come with a mandatory two weeks of training and certification, and 2.) extensive background and psychological checks should be required. Shame on any Republicans who are deadest against these ideas purely for political purposes (also shame on Democrats who attach ridiculous special interest pork to such bills, which is usually why Republicans oppose them). Also, any effort to ban so-called “assault rifles” is a fruitless effort and little more than a virtual signal, I must add. A very small percentage of homicides involve them. Almost all firearm deaths are from handguns. In addition, AR-15s are not assault rifles. As an ex-marine, I’m qualified to make that statement. They look similar to M-16’s, which is a real weapon of war, so I can understand the confusion, but they aren’t. It’s not about how a weapon looks. It’s about its caliber, firing rate and capacity.

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”Make all handguns illegal, make possession a felony.”

That is some kind of crazy talk. Why should law abiding citizens have their handguns confiscated? You are proposing making criminals out of non-criminals! How in the hell do we defend ourselves from home invasions? Instead of ranting about making handguns a felony, why don’t you read about how many lives are saved by the use of a handgun? Do you really believe guns are going to disappear? Do you really believe the crime rate will go down in the “hood”?

I read something today which relates to your post. Wiser people than us went before us!

“A gun, like any other source of power, is a force for either good or evil, being neither in itself, but dependent upon those who possess it."