Hey kids, bulletproof backpacks now available in NJ!

Are we supposed to be excited about this? Are we supposed to feel good that the sick world we live in has devolved to the point that bulletproof backpacks are being marketed to parents for back to school shopping? According to nj.com they are now available at stores in NJ such as Office Max and Office Depot.

Are we supposed to actually provide a backpack to our children that in theory can stop bullets in case a mass shooting happens at their school? Tell them how it happened at Sandy Hook Elementary, Columbine, Stoneman Douglas, Santa Fe High School, Cleveland Elementary, and nothing much has been done about it in a serious way so there’s no reason it couldn’t happen to them?

Are we to explain to them that some of these bulletproof bags are only bulletproof up to a .44 fired by a handgun but can’t stop the sort of ammo used in semi-automatic rifles, the kind so often used in mass shootings? And we’ll add, “But hey, it’s something. Your mother and I just want you to have a fighting chance, okay champ?”

This is where we want to be now as a society? A place that also blames video games instead of easy access to firearms and a failed mental health system? Indeed Walmart recently announced they would no longer sell violent video games yet will continue to sell guns unfettered.

Are we to add bulletproof backpacks to our BTS shopping lists this year and kid ourselves that it’s all we need to do? If so, better stock up on more useless thoughts and prayers, too. You’re going to need them.

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