November 30, 2006

People who can afford bulletproof or bullet resistant glass are now replacing house and car windows with this protective glass, writes Rabail Q.

The writ of law and order is virtually non-existent in this city of lights. Statistics show an increase in car and mobile snatching incidents despite the preventive steps taken by the law enforcement agencies. Times like these, one wishes their car was equipped with a windshield that would stop bullets being fired from the outside. The idea, however, has always been something right out of a Hollywood movie, until now that is.

Bulletproof cars and windows are no more restricted to the VVIPs and cops any longer. People are making use of bulletproof glass in cars, mostly, and even at home for security purposes. At first glance, bullet resistant glass looks identical to an ordinary pane of glass, but that’s where the similarities end. An ordinary piece of glass shatters when struck by a single bullet. Bullet resistant glass is designed to withstand one or several rounds of bullets depending on the thickness of the glass and the weapon being fired at it. The question arises as to what gives bulletproof glass the ability to stop bullets.

Different manufacturers make different variations of bullet resistant glass, but it is basically made by layering a polycarbonate material between pieces of ordinary glass in a process called lamination. This process creates a glass-like material that is thicker than normal glass. Polycarbonate is a tough transparent plastic.

Bullet resistant glass is between seven millimetres and 75 millimetres in thickness. A bullet fired at a sheet of bullet resistant glass will pierce the outside layer of the glass, but the layered polycarbonate-glass material absorbs the bullet’s energy and stops it before it can penetrate the final layer.

The ability of bullet resistant glass to stop a bullet is determined by the thickness of the glass. A rifle bullet will collide with the glass with a lot more force than a bullet from a handgun, so a thicker piece of bullet resistant glass would be needed to stop a rifle bullet as opposed to a handgun bullet.

There is also one-way, bullet resistant glass available, with just one side capable of stopping bullets, while the other side allows bullets to pass through it unaffected. This gives a person being shot at the ability to shoot back. This type of bullet resistant glass is made by laminating a brittle sheet of material with a flexible material and is mostly used by the police, companies providing security services or armoured vans. People who can afford bulletproof or bullet resistant glass are now replacing car windows with this protective glass.

The fact that the law and order situation in Karachi has deteriorated to the extent of bulletproof windows and cars, however, is very disappointing. Whether it is the result of the vicious cycle of poverty or the carelessness of law enforcing agencies, the situation continues to grow bleak, and the citizens of the city have no other choice but to resort to desperate measures.

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