Three makers of these backpacks -- Bullet Blocker, TuffyPacks LLC and Guard Dog Security -- say their products meet the National Institute of Justice’s Level IIIA standard, which stops .357 SIG and .44 Magnum ammunition fired from longer-barrel handguns (they do not protect against rifle ammunition). These retail from $119 to $490 for backpacks.
Bullet Blocker’s sales rose 200 percent after the El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, shootings during the weekend of Aug. 3-4, said Michael Curran, marketing director of Bullet Blocker. Often parents were requesting next-day shipping so that their child could wear it on the first day of school, he said.
Steve Naremore, CEO of TuffyPacks, said sales rose over 300 percent in the week after the two shootings. Guard Dog Security declined to disclose its sales figures, but all three companies said they see spikes in sales after mass shootings and during the back-to-school shopping season.
Guard Dog Security’s CEO, Yasir Sheikh, said that the company saw increased demand for its anti-ballistic products after the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2013, but that customers wanted a children’s version of its adult backpacks, which range in price from $174 to $299.
This is the first year that the personal Scout model, designed for schoolchildren, is on the market, he said. The model comes in three colors and can be bought for $119.99 on Guard Dog Security’s website.
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