Quick answer: Ballistic glazing is transparent, UL 752-rated material — laminated glass, polycarbonate, acrylic, or glass-clad polycarbonate — set in a matching rated frame to stop specified firearm threats. In municipal buildings it is used most often at public service counters: permit desks, utility billing windows, court clerk stations, and police lobbies. Armortex manufactures bullet, blast, and forced-entry resistant glazing and framing rated to UL 752 Levels 1 through 10, and recommends a minimum of Level 3 for government applications.
Why municipal counters are exposed
City halls are built to be open, and that openness is the point. Residents walk in unscreened, often on the worst day of a bad month — a shutoff notice, a denied permit, a towed vehicle. The staff absorbing that sit at a fixed, publicly known location behind decorative millwork and ordinary tempered glass. They cannot leave, and there is no screening upstream of them. That is why the counter line is one of the highest-value security investments a municipality can make per dollar spent.
What ballistic glazing is
Acrylic and polycarbonate are lightweight, impact resistant, and designed to catch bullets rather than deflect them. Polycarbonate reduces spalling — the fragments that injure someone standing behind an unrated barrier. Both scratch without an abrasion-resistant coating, so they suit interior counters and weight-constrained openings.
Laminated glass offers excellent clarity and scratch resistance at greater weight.
Glass-clad polycarbonate bonds glass and polycarbonate with interlayer film. The outer glass resists scratches and weather; the polycarbonate absorbs energy and controls spall. It delivers higher protection levels with better long-term optics, making it the usual specification for exterior government glazing.
Armortex make-ups suit interior or exterior use, and some are UL Listed as “no spall” or “low spall” — worth writing into the spec when staff sit directly behind the glass.
Security film is not ballistic glazing
Film runs 3 to 8 mils thick; 30 mils is roughly a credit card. Real bullet-resistant glazing runs ¾ inch to 4 inches. Film usefully reduces injury from accidental impacts, cuts spall from thrown objects, and delays forced entry — but it will not stop bullets, and adding it does not make an unrated frame adequate. Bullet resistance is a system property.
UL 752 protection levels
Levels 1 through 3 cover handgun threats, escalating through 9mm, .357 Magnum, and .44 Magnum. That range handles most municipal work: permit, billing, records, and clerk counters. Levels 4 through 8 cover rifle and submachine gun threats including .30-06, 5.56mm, and 7.62mm, and are specified for police lobbies, dispatch rooms, and courthouse security posts. Levels 9 and 10 are the highest rated under the standard and are reserved for facilities identified by formal threat assessment.
Armortex’s government guidance is a minimum of Level 3 — an assembly that withstands at least three .44 Magnum rounds. Handguns are the most common firearm used in shootings, so high-powered handgun protection is the most widely specified level. Note that UL 752 covers building materials and is the correct reference for a city hall counter; NIJ standards are used primarily by the federal government for dynamic environments.
The counter is a system
Frames. Armortex builds extruded aluminum (6061-T6, clear or dark bronze anodized), hollow metal, and stainless steel including UL Listed “C” channel transaction frames. All are “non-ricochet type,” intended to capture and retain projectiles rather than deflect them, reducing random injury and lateral penetration. Interior screw-applied stops accommodate a range of glazing types and thicknesses.
Voice. Natural voice framing carries sound around the glazing through the frame itself, with no electronics to fail. Frames can also be supplied without natural voice for electronic or passive speakers where ambient noise is high.
Transfer. Deal trays, transaction drawers, and package receivers — the latter available in Levels 1 and 3 with interlocking doors, an automatic exterior closer, and an optional security latch against forced entry during non-use periods.
Counters. Available in laminate or stainless steel, or supplied with no counter so units mount to existing millwork — which matters for retrofits into historic buildings.
The wall below the glass. Ballistic fiberglass panels are lightweight, fire-rated, and concealable behind drywall or millwork. A rated window above an unrated counter apron leaves a gap at seated-torso height.
Specifying the work
Transaction windows ship preassembled in single or multiple lights, ready to mount into a finished opening, which limits disruption to public service hours. Armortex maintains a BIM and Revit library so rated assemblies land during design rather than in shop drawings, and has manufactured under an ISO 9001 quality system for more than thirty years. Armortex supplies material only and does not install, though it can help locate a regional contractor; glazing installation should follow GANA guidelines and use experienced installers.
Frequently asked questions
- What level does a city hall counter need? It depends on the threats identified in a documented assessment. Armortex generally recommends UL 752 Level 3 minimum for government applications.
- Is bulletproof glass actually bulletproof? It is bullet resistant — tested to stop a defined number of rounds of a specific caliber at a specific velocity.
- Will staff hear residents through it? Yes, with natural voice framing or specified speakers.
- Can it go on our existing counters? Transaction windows are available without counters, and clamp-on framing exists for retrofits.
Contact Armortex
5926 Corridor Parkway, Schertz, TX 78154
1-800-880-8306 · 1-210-661-8306 · info@armortex.com
