Bulletproof Text Books

By KFOR

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK -- A retired veteran and candidate for Oklahoma State School Superintendent says he wants to make schools safer by creating bulletproof text books.

Bill Crozier says the books could give students and teachers a fighting chance if there's a shooting at their school.

"We're gonna shoot the books and see what it does."

A retired veteran and substitute teacher now on a mission to make Oklahoma students a little safer.

"Our experiment was as scientific as we could make just two or three people who had been in the military.

Bill Crozier who is running for state superintendent took to an open field near Minco to see if a text book could stop a bullet during a school shooting. Crozier believes students could use the reading material while running away from an attacker.

"The reason we are doing this experiment is because there was a kid in Fort Gibson who was shot in the back but the bullet did not penetrate his textbook."

Using an assault rifle and various pistols, Crozier and his colleagues shot several textbooks in this home made video.

"Both of the pistols were stopped about two-thirds of the way through the books and of course the rifle shot went all the way through so there are some things that we thought could be improved on."

The major improvements, possibly making the book covers out of kevlar the same material used in bullet proof vest.

Crozier knows his idea might not win an election, but he believes it could save lives.

"I think it is spawning conversation and discussion which I think we need to do for safety and I think this will relieve a lot of people's minds if they knew it was some way that they could fight back."

Crozier says the idea is still in its initial stages and he has no idea how much it would cost to cover the books.

When asked about Crozier's idea the current state superintendent, Sandy Garrett, said she has implemented a statewide anonymous safety hotline for schools.

In addition, every school is required to have a safe school committee and a state issued safe school handbook.

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