Sales of bulletproof backpacks skyrocket in wake of mass shootings

This weekend’s mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, has apparently sent a chill through many parents preparing to send their children back to school in the next few weeks.

Roman Zrazhevskiy with Austin-based ReadyToGoSurvival.com said his company saw a large spike in orders for bulletproof backpacks over the weekend.

“Our baseline is 100 units a month,” Zrazhevskiy told Chron.com “And we sold 300 units just over the last few days.”

He said his orders primarily come from Florida, California and New York. And his customers are everyday families.

“They’re not survivalists at all,” said Zrazhevskiy. “They are normal upper middle-class, and upper-class professionals.”

Even major retail outlets are selling bulletproof backpacks. A spot check of a Houston-area Office Depot found two different types of bulletproof backpacks in their inventory. Chron.com reached out to Office Depot for comment, but did not get a response.

Some have criticized bulletproof bags as giving a false sense of security, since they would only protect about 25-percent of a person using it as a shield.

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) told Chron.com that the only ballistic-resistant product that it certifies is law-enforcement body armor that meets the requirements of NIJ’s Compliance Testing Program, which are then listed on its Compliant Products List.

“The National Institute of Justice — the research, development, and evaluation agency of the Department of Justice — has never tested nor certified ballistic items, such as backpacks, blankets, or briefcases, other than body armor for law enforcement,” said Kelly Laco, a Justice Department spokeswoman.  “Marketing that claims NIJ testing or certification for such products is false.”