Legislators in Wisconsin considered it a good idea to establish a school weapons hotline. In response to Columbine and other school shooting incidents, the $50,000-per-year hotline was supposed to provide an immediate resource for anyone who saw a weapon-toting student at school.


Well, two years and $100,000 later the hotline has received just seven calls. And five of those were prank calls. That’s more than $14,000 per call, or $50,000 for each legitimate call both of which turned out to be false alarms.


As it turns out, the hotline is simply answered by the Dane County 911 dispatcher, who then alerts police in the caller’s area. Yes, that’s right the hotline actually adds a step in notifying the local police. Calling 911 is faster and easier.


Yet another d’oh! moment in government spending.