School boards: Idiots with creative engineering proposals

[Rach3]

School superintendent candidate suggests Kevlar book covers

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ The Republican nominee for state school superintendent, who has said students could use old textbooks for protection during a school shooting, is now suggesting making book covers out of the same material used by the military for body armor.

Bill Crozier said he wanted to ``spark the discussion and debate on what can be done'' to protect children at school and suggested that book manufacturers consider making book covers out of Kevlar, a material used in body armor.

...``There's no reason why we can't come up immediately with a simple policy until we come up with a better one,'' he said.

http://www.kotv.com/news/local/story/?id=112922

 

[Gelsamel Epsilon]

"Now everyone, time to do our shooting drill. Remember to take the time to grab your stuff before moving in an orderly way out of the school - you'll need those kelvar books. I hope you've been working out!"

 

[Danger]

Aren't you supposed to have some sort of education in order to become a school superintendent?

 

[Moonbear]

Maybe he has stock in Dupont?

 

[Danger]

.

 

[Moonbear]

And I bet all those school board folks in California are red-faced now that they've gone and jeopardized the safety of all the school children there by demanding smaller, lighter textbooks. And imagine the chagrin of the Kansas schoolboard folks who keep trying to undermine science education with creationism. You need a good 1000 page biology textbook if you're going to stop a bullet with it!

 

[Danger]

Which would only aggravate the pre-existent biomechanical challenge of getting the thing into the bullet's path (once that's determined) in time to do any good.

 

[turbo]

Apparently, the genius had failed to find out just how many layers of kevlar are needed to even slow down pistol rounds. If some sicko takes a rifle to school there isn't much that body armor can do to stop those bullets unless it is augmented with steel plates, etc.

 

[Danger]

True. My Stage 3 'Second Chance' is about as thick as a pack of cigarettes, weighs over 5 pounds, and is only rated up to .44 magnum.
This clown also doesn't seem to realize that the impact would knock the book out of one's hands and allow the slug to continue virtually unimpeded.

 

[moo]

Aren't you supposed to have some sort of education in order to become a school superintendent?

Apparently not in Oklahoma...

This clown also doesn't seem to realize that the impact would knock the book out of one's hands and allow the slug to continue virtually unimpeded.

Yeah, but a lot of folks seem to think kevlar is like a sci-fi "force field" (beam me up Scotty), and don't realize it actually hurts to get shot wearing a vest.

Personally I'd guess the experience might be comparable to getting hit with a hammer... by a large angry gorilla.

moo
__________________
moo (moo') adj. Of no practical importance; irrelevant, such as a moo point (i.e. a cow's opinion).

 

[Danger]

Or a baseball bat by McGuire. Even something like a 9mm will leave bad bruising; something heavier will break ribs. I will say that the penetration resistance (at least for Second Chance brand) is higher than the official rating. As I said, mine is rated only up to .44 mag. The test swatch provided with it, however, stopped a 7mm Remington deer rifle point-blank.
To give an indication of the impact potential, however...
When I used to just shoot in my back yard, before all the gun weirdness came about, I used make-shift targets. I was quite surprised when I first got my .44 Super Blackhawk and took a shot at something. My 'backstop' was a sheet of 1/4" mild steel. The .44 went through the target like it wasn't even there, and then through the backstop. The copper jacket peeled off on the way through, and was essentially welded into the hole, but the slug barely slowed down. I decided to try something a little more impenetrable, so I nailed a piece of our salvage to the edge (not side) of a 2 x 4 and propped it up against a tree. The salvage consisted of a small condensed soup can flattened out, with a can from peas or carrots squashed over that, then a large soup can, then a 48 oz juice can (all steel cans). I took one shot, and it broke the 2 x 4 in half right at the impact point.

 

[Chi Meson]

To be slightly defensive of the guy, I think he was trying to "spark debate" more than push this one idea. Since it will only take a few seconds before experts dismiss this idea (after they stop laughing), it s now incumbant upon the rest to put forth their own suggestions.

Here's mine:

tear down all school buildings that have not been built since the Columbine incident, and rebuild with necessary safety designed buldings.

But do you know how much that would cost? How many billions of dollars? It would be the equivalent of half-a-war!

 

[moose]

I can just imagine, some kid hides his face behind a book, some wacko shoots the book, the book hits the kid in the face and breaks his nose. Kid's parents sue school for making books which can break a kid's nose.

 

[mattmns]

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot31.htm

 

[turbo]

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot31.htm

Very nice link! I hunt deer with a .45-70. Since I use a single-shot Ruger Model 1 (arguably the strongest American-made rifle action), a pro handloader made me up a 50-round box of hot ammo, including 30 405-grain bullets and 20 500-grain bullets, all tached at 1800 fps. I would not be a bit surprised to find that the 500-grain slugs would make it through the entire stack of books. Currently, I am hunting with stock ammunition, and am saving the hot loads in case I get a moose permit. The ammo was a gift in appreciation for helping him set up a series of rolling bids in an auction that eventually gave him the winning bid on one of Tom Selleck's rifles (his wife is a huge TS fan and wanted one of his guns).