Who even knew that these existed?
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Parents nervous about last week’s Newtown, Conn. shooting are purchasing armored backpacks as a safety measure for their children.
And sales are booming.
“I can’t go into exact sales numbers, but basically we tripled our sales volume of backpacks that we typically do in a month — in one week,” Derek Williams, president of Salt Lake City-based Amendment II, told Mother Jones on Tuesday.
Williams told ABC News that his sales were up over 500 percent since that fateful Friday.
Another manufacturer, BulletBlocker, also told ABC that sales were up tenfold. The chief operating officer, Elmar Uy, said:
“When word gets out there is an option, not a complete solution, to protect their kids, parents go and seek it.”
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Though both companies offer a lightweight body armor that is used by police, military and security services, the material doesn’t stop high-powered assault rifles like the Bushmaster AR-15 that Adam Lanza or James Holmes (Aurora) used.
Backpacks from either company can range from $300 to $450 and have additional add-ins for more security.
It’s sad that we even have to come to this point when backpacks are bulletproof.
SOURCE: USA Today
