School shootings have surged in recent years. Seventy-four incidents occurred since the Newtown massacre. Accompanied by the increase in shootings is the justified increase of concerned and worried parents which has prompted increase in the purchase of bulletproof school supplies. Yes, it has come to the point where families in America are sending their kids to school with tactical equipment. And that’s pathetic for America.
Joe Curran, who co-founded a company that produces bulletproof equipment, developed the first bulletproof backpack for his two kids after the Columbine shooting in 1999. Now, the company, Bullet Blocker, makes and sells iPad cases, notebooks, and school survival bags complete with first aid kits. Each year, the company sees 35 – 40 percent growth, but last year following the Newtown shooting, they saw a spiked 50 percent growth. Sales also spike following school shootings.
Lawmakers have been at a stalemate about tighter gun legislation. Any measures that could possibly make a huge difference in the number of guns made available to people have gone nowhere, thanks to big-money lobbying groups like the NRA. Aside from parents purchasing bulletproof notebooks and backpacks to protect their children from a possible shooter, schools are beginning to amp up tactical measures in the classroom, as well.
Schools in Virginia, Maryland, and Minnesota are installing bulletproof whiteboards in classrooms. This required training seminars for teachers to learn how to properly use them in the event of a shooting. Such equipment is expensive, and schools have been chomping at the bit for grants from security companies to afford the cost. Schools that have won grants are buying surveillance equipment, door-locking systems, alongside bulletproof equipment.
It’s truly a sad and pathetic thing that parents have to worry about whether or not they remembered to fit their kids backpack with bulletproof plating that morning. Does the NRA and pro-gun lawmakers? No, they don’t. It’s their fault that the country has slipped to this state, and it’s their fault that nothing is happening to help curtail the problem of guns in schools.
Josh is a writer and researcher with Ring of Fire. Follow him on Twitter @dnJdeli.
