Dear Annie: My husband has a stressful job. To combat the stress, he and a co-worker play with airsoft guns after business hours. Sometimes, my husband does target shooting with the guns in the basement.

I get very nervous listening to the sound of gunfire in my home. I don't want to say anything because the last time my husband needed stress relief he opted to drink. Please help. — Desperate Wife

Dear Desperate: Airsoft guns are not lethal. While it's not recommended that they be used in the house, if your husband is taking appropriate safety precautions, he should be OK. Suggest that he join a team and play on the weekends. There may even be shooting ranges near your home where he can practise, and you can get some peace.

Dear Annie: Our home is almost 100 years old with original hardwood floors.

Last weekend, our daughter and a friend hosted a bridal shower at our house. After all the guests had gone home, we noticed one woman's stiletto heels left small indentions everywhere. I counted over 30 holes in the living room alone. I thought the rubber tip had come off the heel and she was walking around on a nail head.

Should we say something to this guest so she doesn't do it to someone else's beautiful floors? Would it be OK next time to ask guests to remove their shoes at the door? — Seething and Sad in Greensboro, N.C.

Dear Greensboro: Unfortunately, this is one of the costs of entertaining in your home. Not all guests are willing to remove their shoes, but there is no harm in asking. Perhaps if you provide little slippers, they will find the idea more appealing.

Dear Annie: "Healthy and Scared" said she had no health insurance and you sympathised. Come on, Annie.

When I was too old to be covered by my parents' insurance, I bought my own and I was only working part time. Expensive? I thought so. But it was the responsible thing to do. "Healthy and Scared" has many options to access health insurance. My guess is that she is unwilling to do so until someone else actually fills out the paperwork and foots the entire bill. You should have told her to pick up the phone and call any one of the myriad social service agencies in her area. Someone will be glad to take the responsibility for her health care and lay it squarely on our paychecks.

I teach in a public school that still has uninsured students because their parents won't take the time to enroll them in the government-subsidised plan we offer. But these same kids have the latest technology and clothes. My husband is a pharmacist, and two of my children work in pharmacies. They are constantly amazed by how many clients are on welfare and don't pay a dime for their very expensive, non-generic drugs. These same people also have the rudest, most demanding entitlement attitudes.

Forty years of cradle-to-grave government has produced at least two generations that don't know what personal responsibility means. If an adult is hungry, homeless or uninsured in this country, they have made a conscious decision to remain so. — Not an Enabler

Dear Enabler: You must live in a different country than we do. Insurance is much more expensive and complicated now than when you were young. A pre-existing condition can get you turned down. Single-parenthood can make your life a choice between insurance and child care. A disabled spouse or child can turn your finances into a nightmare. One hospitalisation can cause you to lose your insurance and go into debt all in one blow. Yes, there are some who take advantage of the system, but you aren't seeing the ones who struggle every day to get by. Open your eyes a little wider.

Annie's Mailbox is written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of the Ann Landers column.

Please e-mail your questions to anniesmailboxcomcast.net, or write to: Annie's Mailbox, P.O. Box 118190, Chicago, IL 60611.