Parents are increasingly interested in bulletproof backpacks after the school shooting in Uvalde last month, according to social media activity and a Texas-based seller.
Out of the concern for the safety of her children, Angélica Azpeitia, a 42-year-old Oak Cliff resident, is searching for a backpack capable of stopping bullets.
The news about the elementary school shooting in South Texas left her devastated. She couldn’t help but think about the safety of her 16-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter.
“Overwhelming sadness for everything that is happening,” Azpeitia said. “It’s something that can’t be explained. It can happen anywhere with this gun thing … anyone can have a weapon just for the sake of it.”
Azpeitia learned about bulletproof backpacks from her eldest daughter, Maricela Azpeitia, 23, who discovered them on TikTok. Home Depot and Dick’s Sporting Goods are among the stores that sell them online.
“It’s a great idea, but it does have its pros and cons,” Azpeitia said. “They don’t have their backpacks on them at all times.”
Companies that sell safety gear — such as Guard Dog Security, TuffyPacks and Bullet Blocker — saw an increase in sales of bulletproof backpacks after the shootings, according to CNN en Español.
Steve Naremore, founder of Houston-based TuffyPacks, confirmed the increase in sales in recent days. After a school shooting, bulletproof backpack sales go up, he noted. Naremore says he created his company with his daughter in mind because she was an elementary school teacher at the time.
“I got into this business because my daughter was a fourth grade school teacher, and she told me how many active shooter drills they had to do,” Naremore said. “And so I created this product for parents.”
Some models are all-in-one. For example, TuffyPacks sells one for $189 that contains 24 layers of Twaron anti-ballistic material, a strong synthetic fiber, sewn together inside the backpack. Other items listed are bundles of existing brand backpacks, such as JanSport, with a removable bulletproof insert manufactured by TuffyPacks.
A test report by TuffyPacks notes that the backpack and inserts meet Level IIIA requirements from the National Institute of Justice, or NIJ.
The institute ranks ballistic protection in five levels: Level IIA, Level II, Level IIIA, Level III and Level IV. The higher the rank, the better the protection against high-caliber bullets. Level III and Level IV are the only ones that protect against rifles, according to NIJ.
“They’re designed to stop virtually any handgun round; any, any kind of bullet that you can put in a pistol that you can buy off the store shelves, our backpack inserts will stop them,” Naremore said.
TuffyPacks are not designed to stop assault rifle bullets, and Naremore clarified that his products are labeled with the corresponding NIJ rank they meet.
While sellers have seen an increase in demand, the products are difficult to find in local stores.
Naremore explained that his products were removed from some retailers due to liability concerns as companies didn’t want to take responsibility in case the product didn’t protect as intended.
While some favor the use of bulletproof backpacks, others don’t.
Carrollton resident Carmelina Grilli was an elementary school teacher for Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD up until last year. She questions the effectiveness of such backpacks during moments of uncertainty and panic. She explained students don’t have their backpacks on during class and, even if they do, it doesn’t cover their entire bodies.
“It’s like putting a band-aid on a wound expecting it to cure a symptom but ignoring the root of the problem,” Grilli said.
Grilli would rather see a second security gate at the main entrance of each school and upgraded safety measures in older schools. She also hopes that the nation’s leaders can pass more gun control laws in the country.
“It seems to me we are reacting from inside out instead of it being the system that has control so that the inside — the educational system, children and the entire population — is not affected,” Grilli said.
Texas is among the states with the fewest gun control regulations. Last year, Texas legalized unlicensed open and concealed carry of handguns. Meanwhile, Gov. Greg Abbott recently called for the creation of special committees to address the issue of violence in schools.
