Mass shootings give rise to bullet-resistant backpacks
Makers accused of monetizing tragedy
NEW YORK — Companies like Guard Dog Security, TuffyPacks and Bullet Blocker are selling bullet-resistant backpacks for children in time for the back-toschool shopping season. But critics argue they are using tragedy as a marketing opportunity and exploiting parents’ worst fears.
Safety is high on the minds of many parents, especially after the El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, shootings that left 31 people dead.
“Times have changed,” said Yasir Sheikh, founder and president of Skyline USA, which makes Guard Dog Security products and started offering bullet-resistant backpacks called ProShield Scout for children last year.
Sheikh said the bullet-resistant backpacks are very popular and sold out several times after the 2018 Parkland, Florida, school shooting that left 17 people dead.
Steve Naremore founded Houston-based TuffyPacks in late 2015 after his daughter, a fourth-grade teacher, told him about the frequency of active shooting drills for her students. His company produces some bullet-resistant backpacks, but the bulk of his business is in removable ballistic shields to insert in backpacks.
Naremore says his backpacks could be the difference between suffering “lethal versus non lethal” injuries.
“It acts as a defensive shield, “said Naremore, noting that sales of the shields tripled after the El Paso Walmart shooting that killed at least 22 people.
But some parents question the motives behind such companies.
“The only people enjoying it are the people selling the backpacks,” says Ponnell Scroggins of Milwaukee, a father of six children, ages 3 to 14.
TuffyPacks markets its products on its website with mass shootings in mind: “Are you and your family protected in the event of a school or workplace shooting? Be prepared for the worst situation with the industry’s best ballistic shields!”
And its backpacks don’t come cheap. TuffyPacks’ shields range in price from $129 to $149. Skyline’s ProShield Scout backpacks are priced at $119, although it’s less than the adult version that tops at $199.
Some also cast doubt on the backpacks’ safety and how much they can really protect children.
Both Guard Dog Security and TuffyPacks claim their products are tested in independent labs in line with the standards for the National Institute of Justice and meet the requirements for a Level IIIA rating. That means the shields can thwart a 9-millimeter handgun and a .44 magnum. Naremour says it’s like wearing a police vest.
But the National Institute of Justice — the research, development and evaluation arm of the Department of Justice that comes up with the rating — has itself never conducted tests on these products or certified them and therefore cannot vouch for them.
“Marketing that claims NIJ testing or certification for such products is false,” said Mollie Timmons, a Justice Department spokeswoman.
The backpacks also don’t protect against military-style weapons, which were used in several mass shootings including Parkland as well as Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, in which a gunman killed 20 children and six educators in 2012.
Greg Shaffer, a former FBI agent and an expert in domestic terrorism, notes that the majority of active shooters use handguns. Nonetheless, bulletresistant backpacks may not be effective because children often have to leave their backpacks in cubbies in homeroom so they wouldn’t have them with them if there were an active shooter. Not many children are shot and killed going and coming to school, he added.