New Orleans schools expected to allow bulletproof…

New Orleans schools are set to allow students to wear bulletproof backpacks – but at $330 who can afford them?

  • Orleans Parish School Board is expected to pass the measure on Thursday
  • Students will have the option of carrying bulletproof backpacks in schools
  • Soft Kevlar panels in backpacks are not rated to stop rifle fire, however
  • Several states allow bulletproof backpacks but they were illegal in Louisiana
  • Louisiana governor reversed the ban after shooting in Parkland, Florida 

Bulletproof backpacks may soon be allowed in New Orleans public schools.

An Orleans Parish School Board committee on Tuesday approved allowing the optional bags, and it appears the proposal will pass when the full board votes on Thursday, the New Orleans Advocate reports.

The school district’s attorney, Kathy Moss, says the board is not required to pass the policy change, but the district would like to give families the option.

The backpacks were banned in Louisiana until Gov. John Bel Edwards signed a proposal in June to let students wear them on school property or school buses.

In the early 1990s, schools were designated as gun-free zones, and state law prevented students or staff from wearing body armor.

A bulletproof backpack from Bullet Blocker is seen. Though it looks like a normal backpack, the $330 bag has a removable Kevlar panel rated to stop most handgun munitions

A bulletproof backpack from Bullet Blocker is seen. Though it looks like a normal backpack, the $330 bag has a removable Kevlar panel rated to stop most handgun munitions

The law now has an exception to the body-armor ban, allowing backpacks with either a metal insert or whole panels made with Kevlar, a fiber used in bulletproof vests.

Visit safe life defense backpack bodyarmor shop here.

Republican state Sen. Mike Walsworth introduced the bill.

He has said that the backpacks could protect students if a shooter is on campus and that he was reacting to the shooting at a Parkland, Florida, high school in February that killed 17 people.

The measure was one of roughly two dozen gun bills filed this year, most stemming from the shooting.

Other Louisiana school districts have passed rules allowing bulletproof backpacks. The school board in West Feliciana Parish did so in August.

State Sen. J.P. Morrell, a Democrat from New Orleans, was one of two senators who voted against the bill. He said the backpacks, which can cost from $50 to $400, might be unaffordable for many families and are not equivalent to ‘a Captain America shield.’

Officials have warned against being misled by companies promising the backpacks meet federal standards.

U.S. Justice Department spokesman Devin O’Malley said this year that marketing claiming National Institute of Justice testing or certification for such products is false, as the research institute certifies body armor only for law enforcement.

***

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk