A Utah company is making bulletproof inserts for kids' backpacks.

Armormax Incorporated of Ogden has been making armored vehicles for foreign dignitaries and celebrities for years.

But owner/operator Mark Burton said he felt hopeless when watching breaking news of yet another school shooting.

And he'd gotten requests for help from several parents.

Now, the company makes bullet-proof plates that can be inserted into students' backpacks.

The Armormax plates can withstand a shot from such guns as a .357 Magnum, a 9mm Luger, .308 Full Metal jacket and a .44 Magnum, among other firearms.

The Armormax website: "From the worldwide leader in lightweight bulletproof commercial vehicles comes the Armormax backpack armor insert. These panel inserts are capable of stopping an AR-15 and weigh a fraction of the weight of ballistic steel. These panels can be used in any situation and can be switched from any bag big enough to fit them in.

"Easy to remove like a standard textbook and only adding a few pounds. The material has been used in thousands of armored vehicles and shields around the world and even used in several vehicles for heads of state in over 40 countries. Fully certified and tested."

The inserts, about the size and weight of large books, come in three sizes: small is 8X10 inches and weighs three pounds; medium is 8X12 inches and weighs 3.5 pounds and the large insert is 10X14 inches and checks in at four pounds.

Burton has said he's gotten orders for the backpack inserts from all over the country.

The inserts are $295 and up.

Armormax has been around since 2003 and "Our mission is to produce the finest, most technologically advanced bulletproof cars and armored passenger vehicles in the world while giving superior service. International Armoring is the developer and manufacturer of the lightest vehicular armor in the industry, and the most efficient transport security solutions in the world. IAC® and Armormax® products have been fitted to nearly 8,000+ armored vehicles."

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Where's The Justice? The Horrible Impact Of DUI Repeat Offenders

Less than a year ago, John Brett Sartor, who caused the death of two young and vibrant human beings in St. George, was sentenced to 1-15 years in prison.

Sartor, who had a blood-alcohol content of .22 at the time of the accident 23 months ago, was sentenced to 1-15 years in prison (two counts), which means he very well could be out of jail by St. Patrick's Day 2025.

That's next year!

I have no intention of assaulting Sartor's character (he claims he was swerving to miss a deer at the time), but rather the justice system that seems to value suspects' rights and freedom over justice and equality.

Let me lay it out for you: On Apr. 3, 2022, Sartor crossed the median on Old Highway 91, and hit the motorcycle that carried Jacob Adam Cadreact and his fiancée Lindsay Lee Contreras head on.

The couple was thrown from the bike and pronounced dead at the scene.

Not only was Sartor blindingly drunk, but he was a man who should have never been behind the wheel.

In fact, he had been arrested SEVEN TIMES for driving under the influence. Seven!

He had served a minimal amount of time in jail for his offenses, even after causing a head on crash back in 2016 in which his blood-alcohol content was an unbelievable .30.

During that investigation, just like last April, Sartor was driving without a license and had apparently disabled the interlock device that was supposed to prevent him from driving his vehicle.

He'd had four DUIs in a five-year stretch from 2015-2020, and the only thing stopping him from getting another was a year or so spent in prison. At least three times while out on parole for his myriad DUIs Sartor violated that parole by getting arrested for DUI again.

He was on parole when he struck and killed Cadreact and Contreras in April.

To be sure, Sartor is the bad guy here. But his accomplice is the justice system. He should NEVER have been driving a car. In fact, he should not have been out of prison.

According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Utah gets five stars for its battle to stop drunk driving, with laws set to apply suspended license and interlock devices.

But clearly these things didn't work this time. Sartor, an obvious serial offender, kept driving while drunk until finally at long last he killed someone (or two someones in this case).

The sad thing is that he'll be out in two years or so and he'll do it again. And more innocent people will die.

One final thought, according to MADD, the average person drives drunk 80 times before their first arrest.

We've got to do better.

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