Bullet-Proof Children’s Clothes: Next Logical Step After Newtown Massacre?
Bullet-proof clothes for children are being purchased by worried parents after the mass shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
Miguel Caballero, owner of 22-year-old wholesale clothing operation in Bogota, Columbia, which specializes in bullet-proof clothes for politicians and public figures, has received numerous order requests from householders in the US in the wake of December 14 massacre.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports that Caballero is now planning a 2013 line for children that includes T-shirts, vests, and combination backpack vests especially geared for the US market.
Caballero says that, after Adam Lanza gunned down 27 people on December 14, orders came thick and fast.
“We would answer that we do not make clothes for kids,” he says. “But the emails kept coming.”
Within a week a new children’s line was designed, and ballistic tests began. Now the factory is ready to meet demand for a first wave order of 1800 kid-size bullet proof garments, says Sky News.
Carolina Ballesteros, Caballero’s director of research and development, says the impact of the Newtown shootings was huge because of the young age of Lanza’s 20 young victims.
She added that the firm’s product is not meant for everyday use but is to be used at the discretion of teachers in emergencies only.
The new line is tailored for kids between the ages of eight to 16 with prices ranging from $200 to $400 depending on the particular garment and measurement, notes The Australian.
Caballero’s factory currently employs 235 people with 95 per cent of its output exported to 23 countries in the Middle East and Latin America.
Ballesteros reveals, “Three royal families in the Middle East are customers of ours. We made a bullet-proof kimono for the American actor Steven Seagal. Our experience is beyond question.”
As the dust settles on Congress’ fiscal cliff negotiations and Vice-President Biden’s task force prepares its proposals to support Democratic Calif. Senator Dianne Feinstein’s assault weapons ban bill, do you think this commercial response to the Newtown tragedy will be widely adopted by US parents — or not?
