100,000 cops

In the wake of the Sandy Hook elementary school bloodbath last month, National Rifle Association Vice President Wayne LaPierre summed up his group's Hobbesian vision for America this way: "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." He then proceeded to propose a massive new government program for protecting the nation's 100,000 public schools, one with a potential price tag in the range of $7-10 billion a year:

"I call on Congress today to act immediately, to appropriate whatever is necessary to put armed police officers in every school."

As it turns out, the NRA's idea is a popular one, especially among Republicans. Apparently the Obama administration and some Democrats are warming to it as well; the Washington Post reports that Vice President Biden's recommendations may include making "federal dollars available to schools that want to hire police officers and install surveillance equipment."

But public support for the idea shouldn't be confused with its efficacy. After all, armed guards didn't prevent the massacres at Columbine and Virginia Tech. And what starts with schools won't end with them: the next slaughter will prompt demands for gun-toting officers at churches, supermarkets and shopping malls. Even more important, state and local law enforcement agencies nationwide are confronting other urgent'and more frequent and probable'risks to public safety. And as it turns out, thanks to the recession which began in late 2007 they are facing those challenges with tens of thousands fewer officers and staff than just four years ago.

All of which is why Washington should instead consider a new twist on an old idea: 100,000 cops. Those new feet on the street won't just make communities around the nation safer. As we'll see below, they'll also be a badly needed boost for the U.S. economy.

(Continue reading below the fold.)