With all the talk of disarming law-abiding citizens (to remove the likelihood of a crazed killer gaining access to one of America’s 300m+ firearms) and arming teachers and school administrators (to provide an on-the-spot defense against active shooters), not much has been said about hardening schools against armed aggressors. And no wonder. It’s a difficult and expensive process with no guarantee of success (e.g., Adam Lanza shot his way through a locked door at Sandy Hook Elementary School). But what about providing schools with a Baker Batshield? Huddling in a closet is not much of a defense strategy against an active shooter. Ipso facto. But doing so behind a Baker ballistic Batshield would have given 20 children a better chance at survival than . . . nothing. And even if the teacher holding the shield was unarmed, he or she could have rammed Lanza, giving kids a chance to escape. [Click here for our previous coverage.] A PatrolBat costs $2175. Worth it?

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30 COMMENTS

  3. How about one for school AND one for home? Isn’t every kid’s life worth nearly $5000? HAVE A HEART, AMERICA.

    THANK GOD a school shooter wouldn’t think of shooting the kids in the knees or ankles, and then delivering the coup de grace when the kid fell to the floor.

    And there’s no guarantee the kids could GET to them in time, or even know how to USE one correctly.

    HAIR-BRAINED SOLUTION. ARMED TEACHERS. ARMED TEACHERS. Keep cops out of our schools… they’re enough like little prisons already.

  4. Well I can only imagine the mayhem in that school. While a nice idea, I think that an easier option would be having school staff armed. In many cases when faced with resistance of the ballistic kind the shooter ends it himself rather than fight.
    They are also selling now bullet resistant kids backpacks too, but that won’t break that bubble that the active shooter is working in.

  5. A ballistic shield provides protection for a person who is armed with a gun, club or other weapon, so they can strike without being struck back. They’re also useful to enable a group of people to swarm an unarmed bad guy in close quarters, like a prison cell. But without a gun behind the shield, they’re not terribly useful against a gunman.

  6. The problem with having ONLY defense and no offense is that you can block 100 shots but shot number 101 will get you. You need to be able to stop the source of the threat.

    I can’t see what sort of gun that guy is using, but I am pretty sure he is using pistol ammo. I use car rims as targets for my AR’s and AK’s. The bullets go though front and back of the rim and then keep going. With my Ak 308, I am able to shoot through 1/4 inch thick truck rims.

  7. Just as we who are concerned about self defense are taught “depth of response” then before we fixate on one solution lets think it out. There are contact instruments like bats and clubs, there are less than lethal instruments, like pepper spray and tasers. Then there are lethal instruments like guns. I wouldn’t mind seeing a can of BEAR SPRAY right next to the fire extinguisher in EVERY CLASSROOM. And that is less than a 100 bucks. I hope that Asa Hutchinsons commission noodles this whole thing out.

    • It’s funny, when I was out walking my dogs this evening the same bear spray idea came to mind. We occasionally have problems w/coyote coming after (and sometime taking) small dogs/cats and I was wondering if that would be a deterrent to them. Then as my mind tends to wander, the idea of having a can in every room along with some sort of bat/club/etc for additional defense/offense would at least give an opportunity to defend or escape.

      Like so many other options presented you’d get some who would whine about the possibility of the bear spray “going off”, what if the kids get sprayed, etc. but I’d rather get sprayed by accident than shot on purpose.

    • While bear spray is a better idea than the batshield, it is still easily defeated. A simple surplus pro mask will protect the batshit crazy gunmen.

      I would prefer someone launch pieces of metal at a high velocity towards the bad guy. Seems to work.

      • Not sure about other services, but all Coasties who carry weapons practice staying in the fight after being hit with OC spray, decreases your effectiveness, but it is not a man-stopper. Not saying sprays shouldn’t be part of the solution, I think a can of bearmace or a taser is a good idea, but they can’t compare to hot lead.

    • Yeah… and if the govt could search everyone house at will, we might be safer too…. but we don’t want to live like that.

      Infact, the reason for the Second Amendment is so they can not violate all the other Amendments in the Bill of Rights.

      Liberty is worth the Risk of Death!!!

      That is why we are the land of the Free and the Home of the Brave!!!

    • How does their violent crime and home invasion stats compare with a state that allows ccp and firearms ownership??????? I suggest you move “Down Under” is you feel their system is superior.

    • WC, we have this pesky little thing called the constitution and the Bill of Rights. No legal way to enforce a ban that would get trashed in court anyway. And isn’t WC euro talk for toilet?

    • Obviously, the only kind of violence that matters is “gun violence”.

      Brain damaging beatings, knife-armed home invasions, gang rapes–all of which are routinely stopped in their tracks in the US by the law-abiding defender armed with a gun–happen with alarming frequency “Down Under”. Indeed, almost all violent crimes and home-based crimes (burglary) have increased, because the predators know their victims are unarmed.

      But at least no one’s getting “shot,” and that’s the “real” point, right?

      Last year 250,000 women were raped in the US in a self-defense environment where all but a handful of states allow the law-abiding to CCW and the prospective rapist has some fear they might be shot.

      What would that number be when any 200 lb rapist knows he can target any 100 lb woman and KNOW she’s unarmed and effectively defenseless? 500,000? A million?

      Hey, that’s an idea, let’s sacrifice a million innocent women to rape in the ridiculously vain hope that it will stop another Progressive fascist psychopath from shooting a bunch of school children with a stolen gun acquired at the cost of his murder of his own mother.

      Genius.

      –Andrew, @LawSelfDefense

    • I agree. I live across the Potomac from DC. In Arlington Virginia. There are a lot of people shot in gun free DC and very few in gun rich Northern Virginia. In Fact our murder rate in Alexandria, Falls Church, Arlington and Fairfax Counties is lower then any gun free paradise you can name. The most dangerous neighbor in NOVA is safer then the safest neighborhoods in New York City with one third of the police per capita.

      There are three factors that determine violent crime rates in a city. The percentage of the population on welfare, the percent of out of wedlock births and the length of time an urban area has been run by Democrats. The first two factors are highly correlated with the third factor. If you want to reduce violent crime ban Democrats from public office.

    • Didn’t stop Columbine. I don’t know if the other schools had a guard, but they’re not exactly a magic cure all. Frankly, I’m pretty pissed that people are acting like that’s a guaranteed, viable fix.

  13. The guy is shooting it with 9mm ball, 44 mag jhps, and 12 gauge 00 buck (which generally only goes 1100 fps or so). And the 00 buck left a dent.

    Any rifle load is going through that thing like the proverbial hot knife through butter.

    Just something to think about . . .

    • It’s pretty clear that the batshield is aimed at the LEO market. They will most likely be facing the same types of weapons shown in the video. I bet that the shield will stop a 223 at 100 yards. I am also sure that a 308 or 30-06 FMJ would blow through it at 200+ yards.

  14. How about giving teachers lasers, blind the pricks. Its gotta be difficult to aim with a pulsing green laser in your eyes. Then introduce them to mr. baseball bat as someone else said, Randy

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