In 1950 and 1951, Sen. Estes Kefauver, a Democrat from Tennessee, chaired a Senate commission whose purpose was the elimination of organized crime.

Many Americans believed that if Kefauver was successful in breaking up organized crime syndicates, we law-abiding folks could then go about our lives unthreatened.

Unfortunately, those who thought so were wrong.

The vast majority of us live our entire life without having any direct contact with organized crime because crime syndicates aren’t the threat. Instead, the real threat is that occasional crazy person.

Following the terrible tragedy in a Connecticut elementary school on Dec. 14, we are all left wondering how to prevent such tragedies from happening in the future. In considering “how to prevent,” we should recognize two important truths.

First, the police can’t be everywhere. It simply isn’t possible to station a police officer in each aisle of every movie theatre, in each store of every shopping mall, or in each classroom of every elementary school.

The second important truth is that criminals can always obtain guns, despite laws designed to keep them from doing so.

Illinois’ gun control laws are among the most restrictive in the nation, yet gunshot deaths in Chicago are nearing 500 for 2012, according to the Huffington Post.

And while some suggest that a nationwide gun ban might keep guns away from criminals, consider that smuggling is big business. Frequently smuggled cargo includes such large items as marijuana by the ton and human beings by the dozen. Smuggling a couple of hundred handguns at a time would be a cinch.

Given the truths that (1) the police can’t be everywhere and (2) criminals can always obtain guns, we’re left with just one way to stop violent crime.

And that’s an armed citizenry.

While reading of the recent mass shooting in a theater in Aurora, Colo., I wondered, “Wasn’t there an armed citizen seated in that theater near the assassin?”

While reading of the shooting in a shopping mall in Clackamas, I wondered, “Wasn’t there an armed citizen standing close to the assassin?” In both of those instances, a citizen legally armed and trained in the use of his or her weapon might have saved human lives.

Yes, I know that many — perhaps most — law-abiding folks will cringe at my suggestion of an armed citizenry. I realize that this solution smacks of “the Wild West.”

But if you accept the truths of “the police can’t be everywhere” and “criminals can always obtain guns,” then there is no other solution.

Protecting children in school is an especially difficult problem. Unlike movie theaters and shopping malls, where we might reasonably expect one of many nearby citizens to be legally armed, a classroom typically contains just one adult.

And it’s unreasonable to expect that every schoolteacher in America would welcome the opportunity to carry a handgun each and every day.

The only way to effectively guard our kids at school is to secure the school with fences, locked gates and locked doors. And to hire one or more armed guards per school.

While I believe that this would be an effective way to protect our kids, I cringe at the thought of implementing this solution, for two reasons.

First and most obvious is the fiscal challenge. School district superintendents would have a difficult time finding the funds to pay for gated fences and armed guards.

The second reason is less obvious, but more important. The solution sends a terrible message to our children.

No longer would they think of their school as a safe, nurturing place. Instead, they would feel as we adults do when entering an airport. But terrible as this message would be, it may well be the price we need to pay for the safety of our kids.

— Bill Birnbaum lives in Sisters.