Pennsylvania eighth graders issued bulletproof backpack plates as graduation gift

[babylonsister]

Jeebus.

http://thehill.com/homenews/390715-pa-eighth-graders-issued-bulletproof-backpack-plates-as-graduation-gift#.WxaVwIPvQiA.facebook

Pennsylvania eighth graders issued bulletproof backpack plates as graduation gift
By Justin Wise - 06/05/18 09:23 AM EDT


The entire graduating class at a Pennsylvania middle school was gifted bulletproof backpack plates as they prepare to head to high school next year.

Students at St. Cornelius in Chadds Ford, Pa., were outfitted with the "ballistic shields" thanks to a donation from a local company, according to Fox 29. The report notes that Unequal Technologies developed the ultra-thin shield and designed a 10-by-12-inch plate that can slip into a backpack.

The bulletproof backpack plates were also handed out to 25 faculty members at the school.

“I never thought I’d need this,” one student told Fox 29.

But parents and guardians of students told the news outlet that while a bulletproof backpack may be extreme, it's necessary.

"You hear about these school shootings almost weekly, and I can't believe that's where we are in our nation today, but that's the fact," said one great-grandparent.

Unequal president Rob Vito argued handguns and shotguns are "useless" against a product like the one the company gifted the students.

The gift comes as recent deadly school shootings in places like Parkland, Fla. and Santa Fe, Texas, draw further attention to school safety.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) recently unveiled a new proposal that calls, in part, for the funding of firearms training programs for school officials.

[enough]

1. The acceptance is total. NT

[renate]

10. very well put. n/t

[C_U_L8R]

2. All so some dorks can hold on to their stupid assault weapons

Our values are all screwed up here folks

[gratuitous]

3. "I never thought I'd need this"

Sorry kid, but it's because the adults are such spineless jellyfish. We like our bang-bangs better than we like you.

As for Rob Vito's assertion that handguns and shotguns are useless against his product, would he mind terribly if we asked for a personal demonstration? You know, just so we can all marvel how alive these students will be if they're next up on the hit parade?

[BigmanPigman]

4. Chadds Ford, Brandywine River area?!?

That is so lovely and historic. Artists and chipmunks belong there, not bulletproof backpacks. The gun nuts have really fucked up all the areas of this once lovely country. How very UN American of them! They know what they can do with heir 2nd Amend....

[Ohiogal]

6. I agree.

The stupid gun nuts have ruined so many things in this country. I have relatives in Wilmington, Delaware .... this area of PA is indeed very beautiful .... this is just totally appalling.

[atreides1]

5. Useless, huh???

The shotgun has a spread pattern, you can aim for the legs, feet, and the back of the head!! If the shooter has been practicing with a handgun, then a head shot is very possible!!!

This was just a way for Rob Vito to sell his product...nothing more!!!

[haele]

7. So, are they supposed to use them Captain America style?

They aren't "vibranium" shields, so they're going to take the force of the impact of a round, increase the surface area containing the force of the impact and slam the kid into a wall or on the ground - as most kids aren't over 180 or so lbs. and have had the muscle training to take an impact and keep going. So you're going to have a kid that was running away, who might have been able to continue running after getting pinged in the side with a .22 round getting hit harder as that 8 x 10 plate gets slammed into his or her back at the same force.
It would be like getting hit by a car bumper going 10 mph. Ribs will still be broken, and the light body of a kid will be knocked off his or her feet.
Oh, the round may not have penetrated skin, but it most likely would do some serious muscle, nerve, and or soft-tissue damage over a wider area of that kid's body.

Hold that backpack in front of you, and it gets slammed into your face when it takes the first round, stunning you.

Or maybe, the kids are going to be trained to go into shield wall formation with their backpacks when they hear rounds going off?
In that case, I'd rather have classrooms supplied with ballistic kite shields, myself.

Haele

[NickB79]

14. That's not how body armor works

Even a shotgun slug doesn't carry enough energy to knock a person off their feet Hollywood-style, not even a teenager. It will cause severe bruising and possibly a cracked rib at the impact site, but the adrenaline in your system means you won't even feel the pain until later. Thousands of police and soldiers, including smaller-statured men and women, get hit with firearms more powerful than that, stay on their feet, and walk away thanks to their armor.

The kid you posited taking a .22-cal slug in the side can keep running, possibly hundreds of yards if need be. Then he or she will hit the ground dead once the adrenaline wears off, their internal organs shredded from the round fragmenting internally.

[haele]

15. But it isn't body armor. It's a plate that's losely hanging about 2 - 6 inches away from the body.

And FWIW, I have been hit with a shotgun target-shooting round while wearing body armor (1970's model) when I was around 130 lbs at the range when we were training to qualify because the fool either wasn't listening to the range master and decided to get one last shot off, or fumbled with his shotgun having not cleared the final slug after the range master told us to clear the range and retrieve our targets.
Damn near killed me; I got knocked off my feet and the force pushed me face first into the dirt. And my butt and the back of my thighs were cut up; I was lucky he was still on the line and I was hit in the back or it would could been worse.
I spent two days at the LBNS infirmary while they "determined" there was no real damage beyond bruises and surface wounding - the DoD always wants to ensure that the vet ends up with the lowest possible VA disability rating they can possibly qualify for.

Thing is, body armor (even the ones back in the 1970's and '80's) is worn next to the body and secured by straps so it won't move if hit. It's still going to feel like you've been kicked by a horse, but that plate isn't moving.
A plate in a backpack is not close to the body, and because it is part of a component that is usually just hanging instead of secure, is physically more likely to maybe just deflect a shot than actually stop one.
But you're still going to get hit by the plate at significant velocity if it's on your back or held up in front of your face by the backpack straps or fabric.

As for kill or damage when getting shot unprotected, it all depends on the round and the ammo used. I know plenty of vets who had been hit by standard .22 rounds and survived - even when hit in the back or torso.

While the Navy Colt .45 I was qualified on has the potential to kill at reasonably close range if it's a head or torso shot, body armor or not, every time. As you said, the internal damage does it, whether or not there's penetration.

Haele

[GeorgeGist]

8. Repeal and replace the 2nd.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

9. "replace"?

replace with what? And, is there a process to replace an amendment?

[renate]

11. good for the company

It looks like they specialize in sports equipment and reducing the impact of... balls.

You know, the things kids are SUPPOSED to play with, if this were a normal time and place.

[NickB79]

12. AR-15's are designed to defeat body armor, FYI

Unless that's a 10-lb military-grade ceramic trauma plate, they'll do jack shit against someone with an assault rifle.

[jmowreader]

13. Handguns might be "useless" against this product, but rifles are not

Also, what's the weight on these?

[matt819]

16. Not to sound clinical

But the value of backpack inserts requires research. Sadly, that data is available. The question is whether it would be widely shared where needed. In other words, apart from whether they are adequate against particular weapons/bullets, where are most school shooting victims shot? Head, torso, front, back, etc.

This is where the cdc could help, but republicans have prevented research from being done. Guess they want more dead kids and teachers because that is what their NRA masters demand.