Good Opportunity in Bad Circumstances (ASEI, VSYM, LLL)

It's tragic that it took a tragedy like last year's shooting at a Newton, Connecticut elementary school to get the ball rolling. Nevertheless, that ball is rolling now, and it's putting companies like L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LLL), View Systems Inc. (OTCBB:VSYM), and American Science & Engineering, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASEI) in the spotlight. How so? Because VSYM, ASEI, and LLL make the tools that are, unfortunately, going to be the only way to absolutely ensure this nation's public schools are secure, and defended from gunmen like Newton's Adam Lanza.

That ball is a serious (read "seriously-funded") effort to put weapons detection systems - body scanners like the ones you'll walk through at an airport's security checkpoint - at school's doors. Yes, it's ominous, but inescapable. And, while it may only detect a weapon without actually preventing a shooter from entering a facility, a solid and applied locked-door policy can do the rest.... and using such tools will at least prevent a school's students from entering the building with an undetected weapon.

The evidence and the opportunity supporting companies like L-3 Communications Holdings, View Systems, and American Science & Engineering has admittedly been off the radar. But, it's there, in pockets here and there. Tennessee's Dickson County's school system recently announced it will be spending $500,000 on barricades and a surveillance system. More than 200 schools in Indiana will be receiving between $30,000 and $50,000 to improve security. In Florence City, Alabama, schools, only those with a key-card can unlock doors and enter the building.

It's all part of what's expected to be a near-doubling in the amount spent on schools security systems between last year and 2007... an increase from $2.7 billion to $4.9 billion.

Weapons detection systems - walk-through body scanners - are part of that mix. And, there are plenty of companies that make them. Some of these systems, however (too many of them) are prohibitively expensive for the average school system to purchase. The proverbial "good ones" like you might find at an airport, made by L-3 Communications or American Science & Engineering, can start out at $200,000 apiece, and work their way up rather quickly.

There's good news though - View Systems' 'ViewScan' weapons detection walk-through scanners are much more affordable for school budgets, at a price around $10,000 each. In fact, many school systems have already purchased such systems from VSYM, including the Detroit school system and the Dodge City (Kansas) Community College. View Systems' ViewScan will be installed at 17 Detroit schools. The system is already in place at a few dozen of the nation's schools, but now that school systems are making a point of finding funding for such tools, the figure could reach hundreds in the near future, and could reach thousands in the foreseeable future.

Best Communications Equipment Stocks To Invest In Right Now

Putting it all together makes for a sound investment opportunity, even if an off-the-radar one.

For more trading ideas and insights like these, be sure to sign up for the free SmallCap Network newsletter.