Back to school shopping…

Some of the folks killed in the El Paso Walmart massacre were parents doing some back to school shopping for their kids.

I can imagine they were filling their carts with new outfits for the first day of school, markers, folders, notebooks, lunchboxes, and backpacks.

What did they look for? Elsa or Dora the Explorer? Spiderman or Woody? For the junior high brigade, maybe a Fjällräven like the high school and college kids carry. (Which Walmart probably probably wouldn’t stock, but whatever…)

After El Paso, and with Parkland, Sandy Hook, and Virginia Tech on their minds, many parents are looking beyond the cute themes, the superheroes, the brands the kids like. They’re more concerned about whether their kids will get out of the school day alive than they are about whether the kids will get a backpack with the cartoon character they wanted. And the market has responded.

Companies like Guard Dog Security, Bullet Blocker and TuffyPacks designed bulletproof backpacks to quell those concerns.

The retailers said backpack sales spike during the back-to-school season, and all three said they they saw a significant uptick in the aftermath of mass shootings. (Source: CNN)

Sales are up 200% to 300% since the El Paso and Dayton mass shootings.

Some of the packs available are familiar brands – “JanSport or High Sierra backpacks retrofitted with ballistic panels sewn into the back.” Others are newer brands. They go from anywhere to a bit over a hundred bucks to nearly $500. You can get them online or at Bed Bath & Beyond and other retailers. And they’re available in sizes from preschool to adult. Preschool. Let that sink in.

And I’m pretty sure that, if some maniac decides to shoot up a school, they’re not going to do a damned bit of good. For starters:

Most bulletproof backpacks for children can withstand 9-mm and .44 magnum ammunition but not that of a rifle.

(Some backpacks and inserts do withstand [some] rifle shots.)

Admittedly, the Virginia Tech killer used handguns. But Sandy Hook used a rifle (and a Glock, which was what he used to belatedly off himself). The weapon of choice in Parkland was a rifle. I’d forgotten all about the May 2018 massacre at Santa Fe, Texas, high school. Eight killed; the killer used a shotgun and a handgun. And if we go back to the granddaddy of school shootings, at Columbine the weapons of choice were shotguns, rifles, and a handgun.

So whether they’re labeled “bullet proof” or “bullet resistant”, they aren’t going to resist a bullet from a rifle, which seems like the weapon of choice for mass murderers.

And then there’s this:

When your kiddos are in school, they’re not generally wearing their backpacks.  Junior high and high school kids may haul them from class to class, but for the little guys, those backpacks spend the day in coat closets, lockers, or cubbies. And even the older kids are sitting in class with their backpacks on. In the event of a shooting rampage, will there be time for kids to retrieve and don their backpacks? No, there won’t be.

And backpacks only protect the back. Yes, some kids will be shot at while fleeing. Others will be shot point blank while they sit at or under their desks, hovering in the back of a classroom or in a closet. Even if the backpack can withstand a high-powered rifle shot, it won’t protect a child’s front. Or arms. Or legs. Or lower body. Or head.

There are the bulletproof backpacks, and then there are the active shooter drills, in which students and teachers rehearse shooting scenarios. Forget the fire drill. Fire is no longer the fire that people are worried about.

Back to school shopping in my ancient history day meant a new pencil box, (maybe) a new bookbag, and a new pair of Stride-Rites.

Hard to imagine going bulletproof backpack shopping for your little guys.

Oh, what a world we live in.