An Oklahoma company has created a bulletproof blanket that children can wear like a backpack to shield themselves in the case of a school shooting.

The Bodyguard Blanket, which costs $1000, is the latest body armour product targeted at school students in the United States, where parents and schools can already buy bulletproof jackets, backpacks, and whiteboards.

Gun-control lobby groups say there were at least 44 school shootings in the US - an average of more than three a month - between December 2012 and February 10, 2014.

Steve Walker, a father of two, came up with the idea for the blanket after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012 and a tornado in Oklahoma last year that killed 24 people, including students at a school that had no tornado shelter.

The pad can also be used to protect children from flying tornado debris and is being billed as a cheaper alternative to building tornado shelters.