The Arms Cliff.

At last the National Rifle Association (NRA) has spoken! Perhaps now the Arms Cliff can be avoided. We were about to lose our right to own and fire an assault weapon at marauding children. Instead we may now be able to become part of the "national school shield emergency program."

The problem is that our spokesman, Wayne Pierre, is a piker. He proposed that every public school in the nation be guarded by an armed police officer. One officer? That'e not nearly enough. What if the school is attacked by a street gang, the Taliban, or the KKK? That lone guard would need a machine gun or bazooka.

Here is my proposal: Every school should house a police station. We need neighborhood police stations just as we need neighborhood schools. Simply combine the two services under one roof. What kind of a nut would attack a school that has police cars parked in front of it and armed police swarming all around it? Certainly not our kind of nut.

An added advantage of this plan is that children wound daily witness the importance of being armed. They will ask their parents about protection of the home. The police and armed services will find it easier to recruit, as will the street gangs and the Taliban. The demand for guns will increase and this in turn will create jobs in gun factories. The NRA will be hailed as a major job creator.

There is still one problem we must confront. Too many gun users, like Adam Lanza, are committing suicide. We suspect that they fear retribution. Feelings of guilt and fear of punishment for gun use are mental health issues that must be addressed.