PHOENIX — In the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting that killed 20 children back in 2012, a Florida company called Guard Dog began making bulletproof backpacks.
Those backpacks are now available pretty much anywhere you can buy school supplies.
OfficeMax/Office Depot began selling them in December. They are also available online through Amazon, Walmart, and Bed Bath and Beyond, just to name a few.
The extent to which the backpacks have become so mainstream bothered local mother Shanae Hughes, who has a school-aged daughter.
"I guess I can understand where they’re coming from with the idea of the bulletproof backpack," Hughes said. "But I don’t know if I feel like that’s the best option."
Another local mom, Diane Poythress, didn't like the idea either, but she was happy to have the option.
"I just think it’s a great idea. I mean it’s good," Poythress said. "You can’t overprotect kids these days. Everything’s so random when it happens."