Shootings prompt brisk sales of bulletproof backpacks
TEL AVIV (AFP) — An Israeli firm says it has sold US customers hundreds of its bulletproof schoolbags, introduced in the wake of the Parkland school massacre.
“We designed a bulletproof backpack at the request of our distributors in the United States after the huge trauma caused by the February shooting in Florida,” Snir Koren, CEO of Masada Armour, said on Thursday.
Nikolas Cruz, 19 at the time of the attack, allegedly opened fire and killed 17 people on Feb. 14 in his former high school in Parkland, Florida with a semi-automatic AR15 rifle.
He has said that he heard voices telling him to “burn, kill, destroy.”
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for him, in a trial that could begin at the end of next year.
In a matter of months, protective gear manufacturer Masada Armor, based in the northern Israeli town of Julis, developed its bulletproof backpack and got it certified by the Israeli army and police.
“In two months, we have sold hundreds and are gearing up to increase production rates to 500 units per month.”
The basic model, weighs around three kilograms, protects against 9 mm pistol fire and sells for $500, he says.
An improved version, weighing five kilograms, is designed to give protection against high velocity rifles such as the AR-15 and the M-16 and Kalashnikov assault rifles and will soon go on sale for more than $700.
Koren says that while his bags are suitable for college students, they are too heavy for younger pupils.
“We are developing a lighter model for their type of morphology,” he said.
The Parkland massacre — one of the deadliest mass shootings in recent US history — sparked a nationwide youth campaign for gun control.
After the shootings, US President Donald Trump said he was open to tighter gun control measures, but has opposed a ban on assault rifles, a key demand of the student protesters.