Schools' Obsession With Anti-Gunman Gadgets Just Keeps Growing

Ever heard of a lock?

In case teachers don't want to buy a $400 bulletproof whiteboard to save one person in their classroom, or a $1000 bulletproof (except from the side) blanket so their students can wrap themselves up like giant bulletproof sushi, they now have the option of purchasing the Barracuda Intruder Defense System, a $100 door-barricading product that appears about as easy to use as a slide rule. (The child in this story insists that the defense system was super easy to operate, despite his fumbling.)

The device is attached to the latch or bottom of a door and would theoretically prevent a mass shooter from entering a classroom. From MyFox28:

A local firefighter and SWAT medic has invented a device that he says could save lives in the event of a school or other active shooter situation inside a building. 

Troy Lowe teaches shooter response training programs but over the years he noticed similar reactions from people involved. …

"The idea is to secure yourself inside the room without opening the door," Lowe said. 

"When they were tested in the factory, the door failed before the devices did," Lowe said. "There's potential to save a lot of lives."There are a few different designs of the steel-based product, so you can apply it to an inward-facing door and an outward-facing door. And Lowe says the braces are strong.

Less easy to understand is why a school would buy these if their doors already happen to have a built-in security device sometimes called a "lock."