Sales of kids’ bulletproof backpacks soar

[jimmy olsen]

It's weird that these exist.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/sales-of-kids-bullet-proof-backpacks-soar/2012/12/20/6cba668a-4a1e-11e2-820e-17eefac2f939_story.html

By Caitlin Dewey, Friday, December 21, 5:27 AM

Elmar Uy thought his software was acting up when he first saw the huge jump in sales for bulletproof backpack last Friday. Uy double-checked the figures and discovered the Web site's traffic stats had jumped tenfold.

Then he turned on CNN, and it suddenly made sense.

Following the slaughter of 20 children and six adults last week at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., Bullet Blocker says it is struggling to keep up with demand for its bulletproof backpacks for children.

"We sell 15 to 20 backpacks in a good week," said Uy, Bullet Blocker's vice president of sales. "Since the shooting, we've sold 50 to 100 per day."

Uy's is not an isolated case. At least half a dozen companies sell bulletproof backpacks and vests for children, and in the wake of the country's second-worst school shooting, they say business is booming. In Arizona, a body armor manufacturer called Amendment II says sales of its bulletproof childrens' backpacks — Avengers for boys, Disney Princesses for girls — have jumped more than 500 percent. Black Dragon Tactical, a survivalist company in New Hampshire, is promoting armored backpack-inserts on its Facebook page.

"Arm the teachers, in the meantime, bulletproof the kids," Black Dragon posted on Facebook on Sunday. "These panels fit into most common backpacks."

Until recently, it seemed a foregone conclusion that body armor, like guns and knives, had no place in schools. Five years ago, there was no such thing as a bulletproof backpack, says Uy, and bulletproof vests were merely precautions for kids who hunted with their parents.

But reinforced backpacks have become more popular since the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007 and the gradual rise of the "prepper" movement, a subculture obsessed with preparations for the end of the world. The backpacks now retail for between $200 and $500 and are made of high-tech, even military-grade, ballistic materials and weigh less than a pound more than an ordinary backpack.

Amendment II primarily manufactures lightweight armor for soldiers, said Derek Williams, co-owner and sales director. The company began making backpacks six months ago when a string of parents requested them, usually after big prepper conventions. Even then they sold only a handful a week, Williams says.

Now the company has posted a pop-up message on its Web site, explaining that it can't keep pace with orders and will donate a portion of all sales to the families of the victims of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Yesterday alone, Amendment II sold 200 bullet-proof packs.

"We never wanted to be in the spotlight for kids' body armor," Williams said. "There's a criticism that we're capitalizing on the tragedy. That isn't true."

But some school safety experts disagree, claiming that Amendment II and companies like it profit off of parents' fear — and sow another kind of danger.

The backpacks distract parents from real solutions such as whether their children's school has an up-to-date safety plan and how often teachers receive safety training, said Kenneth Trump, a school security consultant. They also demonstrate what he calls a fundamental "misunderstanding of how kids and schools work." Students don't carry their backpacks for most of the day, and in the event of a scary, split-second disaster, a child is unlikely to "deflect bullets" with a bag, said Trump.

Regardless of whether manufacturers are peddling protection, as they claim, or distraction, as school experts do, it does appear that backpack manufacturers benefit from peoples' fear. Trump says he's heard of the backpacks before — they bubble up after school shootings.

Bullet Blocker promoted it backpacks on Facebook after the theater shooting in Aurora, Colo., writing "Crazies don't shoot people because of BulletBlocker.com . . . BulletBlocker exists because of crazies!"

For some people with ties to the Sandy Hook shooting, none of this sits well.

"I have a friend who lost a child on Friday," Ben McLeod wrote on the Facebook wall of one manufacturer . "You make money off of the wanna-be, neo-military [people] who run around armed to the teeth, waiting for the black helicopters . . . You people are sick."

[Malthus]

Kid's backpacks are usually full of enough crap that they could stop bullets anyway. 

[Ed Anger]

Kid's backpacks are usually full of enough crap that they could stop bullets anyway. 

Atlas shrugged is cheaper. Or Battlefield Earth.

[11B4V]

Capitalism.....

[DGuller]

Do these parents know that backpacks leave certain body parts exposed?

[Ed Anger]

Do these parents know that backpacks leave certain body parts exposed?

So do bulletproof vests. Your point?

[11B4V]

Are these level II, IIIA, or IV?????? etc

[DGuller]

Do these parents know that backpacks leave certain body parts exposed?

So do bulletproof vests. Your point?

Kind of silly to break children's backs without even protecting the torso from most angles.

[Ed Anger]

Do these parents know that backpacks leave certain body parts exposed?

So do bulletproof vests. Your point?

Kind of silly to break children's backs without even protecting the torso from most angles.

They can take it. They need it to get used to carrying heavy loads in future wars.

You also need to think like a parent. Empty your mind. Panic. Babby needs a Disney pack with dragonskin armor.

[11B4V]

Do these parents know that backpacks leave certain body parts exposed?

So do bulletproof vests. Your point?

Kind of silly to break children's backs without even protecting the torso from most angles.

Just cut in arm and leg holes. Good to go.

[Malthus]

I suggest strapping textbooks on arms, legs and chests as body-armour.

You can use those Texan science textbooks that include creationism and set the value of pi at exactly 3. 

[Ed Anger]

I suggest strapping textbooks on arms, legs and chests as body-armour.

You can use those Texan science textbooks that include creationism and set the value of pi at exactly 3. 

Mythbusters (ugh) armored up a car with phonebooks.

To the young people: A phone book is a directory of phone numbers that is printed on paper.

[garbon]

To the young people: A phone book is a directory of phone numbers that is printed on paper.

Ugh somehow the fucks got crafty and I had a small one in my mailbox. I put it in the recycling.

[11B4V]

To the young people: A phone book is a directory of phone numbers that is printed on paper.

Ugh somehow the fucks got crafty and I had a small one in my mailbox. I put it in the recycling.

Yea I get those. 5"x7" and 10" thick.

[derspiess]

Are these level II, IIIA, or IV?????? etc

In the mass media, it's all the same. They're always too lazy to make a distinction. Same as with guns,