Retailers Offering Bulletproof Backpacks for Central New York Kids

Back to school means pencils and notebooks, and now, sadly, bulletproof backpacks.

Several Central New York retailers are offering bulletproof backpacks in the wake of school shootings, like those in Sandy Hook, Connecticut and Parkland, Texas. Recent mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio have parents even more on edge. Manufacturers say sales of these backpacks have risen 200% over the past year.

Retailers including Home Depot and Bed, Bath and Beyond are offering bulletproof backpacks online, with prices ranging from $155 and upwards. Other retailers offer ballistic inserts for regular backpacks.

Backpacks aren't the only back-to-school items getting attention: Bullet Blocker sells inserts for notebooks. "The retailer says the insert is capable of stopping a 0.357 Magnum, 0.44 Magnum, 0.9 mm handgun, 0.45 caliber hollow point ammunition," according to the Staten Island Advance. "None of these items are capable of stopping bullets fired from "assault-type ammo such as semi-automatic rifles", like those used in the Parkland school shooting."