Bulletproof Backpack Sales Spike, Too

Backpack shields were kind of a joke prior to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, this but now people are starting to take them very seriously. Sales of bulletproof backpacks and bulletproof backpack inserts has spiked to an all-time high.

This is without a doubt a reaction by scared parents to the shooting, link with sales breaking 500 percent increases.

“We sell 15 to 20 backpacks in a good week,” said Elemer Uy,  the vice president of sales at BulletBlocker, a specialist in inconspicuous body armor, including bulletproof backpacks. “Since the shooting, we’ve sold 50 to 100 per day.”

“When we’re selling a few a week, it doesn’t take many to increase your sales,” said Derek Williams, co-owner of Amendment II, another body armor company that offers bulletproof backpacks. “But yesterday we had over 200 requests for products.”

Prices for bulletproof inserts start around $200, bulletproof backpacks run about $300. The inserts and backpacks don’t add a lot of weight, starting at less than 12 ounces for a small backpack insert. They all generally offer National Institute of Justice IIA-rated protection, which will stop most bullets fired from handguns but not rifle projectiles.

For that, you need to include a ceramic strike plate for an extra $300 to $600, and those weigh between five and ten pounds.

Still, there is demand, someone will supply. “Parents were saying, ‘Hey, I want one of these for my kid. Can you get me this? Even after the Aurora shooting, we didn’t see this,” continued Williams. “We did see some increase, but nothing even close to what we’re seeing now.”-[source]