On the heels of Donald Trump’s running mate JD Vance describing school shootings as a “fact of life,” reports are emerging that ballistic armour companies are turning devices originally developed to protect soldiers during wars into everyday objects for US pupils. The main goal? To protect them from potential school shootings. Understandably, these new scholastic items are shrouded in a lot of controversy. Some people see them as unsettling but prudent, whereas others have labelled them as a misguided approach to confronting gun violence.

‘What does school armour look like?’ you might be asking yourself. Well, imagine backpacks with removable ballistic shields, and bulletproof hoodies, pencil cases, clipboards, binders and desks—the full nine yards.

Costco selling bulletproof backpacks for children. pic.twitter.com/KXxZB3KF1V

— Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges (@Mont_Jiang) August 28, 2021

Just get Trump a bulletproof backpack.

It's what our children have to do.

— Michael Little (@Michael_Little_) September 17, 2024

These unconventional school items are gaining more attention and unfortunately popularity, following a brutal shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia on 5 September 2024. The incident horrified the nation because the perpetrator, Colt Gray, was only 14 years old and had been given free access to guns by his father.

After Gray opened fire, students scrambled for shelter in classrooms and barricaded their doors with desks and chairs, while others fled to the school’s football stadium. Police forces quickly swarmed the campus and parents raced to find out if their children were safe.

The scene was so horrific that it embedded itself into the collective memory of Americans as one of the most gruesome shootings in recent years. The violent event also pushed both presidential candidates to issue a statement, given the issue of gun control renewed attention ahead of the 2024 US presidential election.

In the past decades, there have been more than 230 school shootings in the US, with active shooter drills unfortunately becoming routine in American students’ lives.

Yet, the thought of parents purchasing bulletproof clothing in response is unsettling and brings Ohio Senator JD Vance’s words on the latest shooting to mind. “If these psychos are going to go after our kids we’ve got to be prepared for it.”

“We don’t have to like the reality that we live in, but it is the reality we live in. We’ve got to deal with it,” Vance lauded at a rally in Phoenix.

This ‘unchangeable reality’ has become a gold mine for major arms companies like 3M as well as some entrepreneurial parents, who apparently decided to capitalise on the fear of their peers.

Military-grade pencil cases retail for $185, bulletproof hoodies for $450, and whole classroom shelters for a whopping $60,000, according to an investigation by the New York Times. Moreover, these items are being purchased in bulk.

These opportunistic suppliers have even bought booths at educational trade shows such as the National School Safety Conference, where bulletproof schoolwear, active shooter simulation programmes, and barricade door locks have been sold for quite some time now.

Still, the quality of these goods is quite contested despite advertisements that speak of “official protection ratings” by the National Institute of Justice, a federal agency. In fact, the institute declared these claims as “false” and said that it has never tested nor certified any bullet-resistant items except body armour for law enforcement after The New York Times contacted it.

It represents the merging of two unlikely industries as Americans are desperately trying to ensure the safety of children at school.

The philosophy these actions are founded on is a deeply conservative one: Republicans famously champion increased military spending, strong national defence, and bolstered domestic security to combat external and internal threats.

Instead of gun control laws we’ve managed to make:

•Bulletproof backpacks
•See through backpacks to aid in weapon detection
•SWAT inspired class barricade devices
•Anti-shooter K-9 Unit training

Instead of stopping shootings, we’ve commercialized them. Good job America.

— James🔻 (@GoodVibePolitik) November 16, 2018

In this spirit, Republican Vice presidential candidate Vance suggested that the US needs to harden security to prevent more carnage like the Apalachee High School shooting. When journalists asked him what he meant by that specifically, Vance curved and argued that further restricting access to guns, as many Democrats propose, won’t end school shootings.

The politician evidenced this by highlighting that they happen in states with both lax and strict gun laws. Then, Vance praised efforts in Congress to give schools more money for security, reaffirming that more security and control was the best way forward.

Yet, heightened security and control have caused many issues for students in practice. Young women are reporting that policies like backpack bans have forced them to hide period products in their hair and shoes.

Liberal voters and associations, who have been advocating for more gun restrictions, background checks, and mandatory and safe storage units instead, have staunchly advocated against this growing trend of arming schools and expanding control measures.

“Arm us with books, counsellors and resources, not bulletproof vests,” Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, told The Times. “It is infuriating that rather than having the courage to solve the gun violence problem, we now have to confront the monetising of fear.”