Bulletproof backpack sales increase in wake of latest school shooting

IT’S horrific to think that school shootings are so common in the US now that parents are forking out hundreds for a special backpack to protect their kids.

BULLET BLOCKER are a Massachusetts-based company selling the fortified bags for up to $A640.

They have seen a 30 per cent surge in sales since Wednesday’s massacre in Parkland, South Florida, according to TMZ.

The company sold 500 of the backpacks on Thursday alone, owner Joe Curran told the news outlet, adding that the majority were headed to Florida.

The backpacks, which weigh just over two kilograms, are lined with Kevlar, a fibre used in bulletproof vests used by law enforcement.

Bullet Blocker describes Curran on its website as “a real-life father who wanted to do all that he could to protect his two school-aged children after witnessing the horror of the Virginia Tech massacre.”

The former US Army Ranger, sheriff’s deputy and firearms instructor invented “My Child’s Pack,” the first bulletproof backpack designed for students, according to the company.

One of the backpacks listed on the site is the $A417 BulletBlocker NIJ IIIA, which is available in three colours and contains an anti-ballistic panel weighing just over 500 grams.

Bullet Blocker says it’s capable of stopping .357 and .44 Magnum rounds, 9mm bullets and .45-caliber hollow-point ammo plus more.

The company also caters to deep-pocketed adult customers with a range of luxury bulletproof items, including a $A4,000 Gucci diaper bag, a $A4040 Gucci jacket, a $A6,600 Hermes bag and a $A7,500 Armani suit.

Meanwhile, another company’s bulletproof backpacks were put to the test at a Florida shooting range, where a .40-caliber handgun, 9mm pistol and a 12-gauge shotgun were fired at them.

The armour stopped the handgun rounds and shotgun pellets from completely penetrating the backpacks made by Guard Dog Security, according to WFTV.

But the backpacks, even with added textbooks, were unable to stop a full-metal jacket bullet fired from an AR-15, the kind of assault weapon used in this week’s bloodbath.

Yasir Sheikh, president of Guard Dog Security, said his company wasn’t preying on parents’ fears.

“It’s not as foreign anymore,” Sheikh told WFTV.

“A few years ago, people would kind of frown at bulletproof backpacks, but people have accepted the idea.”

This story was originally published in the New York Post and has been republished with permission.