The issue of gun violence has become a regular headline-maker in the United States in recent decades. Even though the media has been almost singularly focused on the coronavirus pandemic since early 2020, gun violence hasn’t gone away. Since policies concerning gun use have been slow to materialize in the US, innovators have found it necessary to develop other ways of mitigating the spread of gun violence.
One such innovation has been the invisible ballistic protection of Revolution Shield™ table, which serves as both a piece of furniture and a physical security device.
A Partnership Leads to Innovation
PS Furniture™ partnered with Amulet™Ballistic Barriers to create the Revolution Shield table. The table is visually typical, designed to fit in with any office or school decor. However, its quick flip design and the integration of Amulet Ballistic Barrier technology provides strong protection against handgun fire.
“We had a patented lightweight table core, which we call Revolution, and ballistic barriers are heavy,” explains PS Furniture Executive Vice President Roger Clark, “so you put the two things together like an Oreo, and you end up with a lightweight table that stops bullets.”
PS Furniture is a U.S. manufacturer that has been creating furniture for over 100 years, and Amulet is a leader in ballistics technology. The partnership made perfect sense and led to a cutting-edge product poised to offer organizations and schools another layer of defense against sudden walk-in (concealed) handgun violence.
Mass Shootings are a Modern Reality
Even though it may seem like the issue of mass shootings in the United States took a backseat to other pressing news coverage in 2020, there were still 600 mass shootings that year (compared to 417 mass shootings in 2019). Those numbers do not show any sign of diminishing as schools, churches/synagogues and other venues where vulnerable people gather, begin to open post-pandemic.
In roughly 78% of mass shootings, the shooter uses a handgun. The Revolution Shield Flip-Top table is handgun rated, providing an extra measure of security against an unlikely but incredibly tragic situation of a walk-in handgun shooter looking to hurt people.
“The table and its modesty panel will stop a bullet from any caliber handgun, from .22 to .44 Magnum,” says Clark.
What makes the Revolution Shield flip-top table unique and uniquely ideal for sudden walk-in handgun violence is that it flips down instantly and effortlessly to form a 5’ or 6’ wide by 40.5” high handgun mobile (on wheels) ballistic shield. And it looks like any other ordinary flip-top laminate table.
Ballistic barrier technology is not new, think Kevlar®, but it is transforming rapidly to be used in various ways to offer protection in case of an active shooter event. The protection is invisible to the naked eye and lends itself to a more natural look and feel. This invisibility is especially important for schools, where one would not want children to feel like they were learning within a fortress or behind bulletproof glass. Optics play a role in feelings of security and safety, making the Revolution Shield table’s invisible protection and everyday-table presentation just as important as its bullet-stopping abilities. And teachers use flip-top tables everyday in classrooms.
The United States’ lagging gun control legislation makes innovations like the Revolution Shield table welcome and urgent in defense against gun violence incidents.
“It seems to me that it’s pretty easy to get into an open, public space or even an open private space with a handgun,” says Clark. He stresses that schools should enlist security consultation when integrating a product like the Revolution Shield table into their security plans. Clark strongly believes the innovation that is the Revolution Shield table could help minimize casualties as a part of a school’s or any unsecured public or private space’s comprehensive security plan.
The Revolution Shield Table in Use
Recently, PS Furniture donated a Revolution Shield table to the Orlando Police Department as an act of goodwill following a rather tumultuous year of gun violence in the Orlando area. Clark believes the table to be a critical investment for locations susceptible to gun violence or active shooter events.
When applying the table’s technology to use in a classroom setting, Clark suggests looking at the size of the rooms and the standard number of people occupying the space when considering how to make use of Revolution Shield tables. For example, for a typical K-12 classroom, he believes three tables could be sufficient to make a noticeable difference in handgun ballistic safety during an active shooter event.
In a recent global poll, 88% of the world’s citizens said they would like to see public safety transformed by advanced technology. There is widespread support for innovations like the Revolution Shield table. Technology is advancing at a rapid pace and, with that, pioneers are developing new ways of keeping people safe.
With the combined forces of PS Furniture and Amulet Ballistic Barriers’, Clark foresees a successful future for the bullet-stopping table.
The world can be a dangerous place; that is the reality we live in. This stark and sad actuality is especially true in the United States, which sees more school shooting incidents than anywhere else in the world. Through continued innovation, forward thinkers like Clark continue to bring hope for a safer tomorrow with potentially life-saving ideas like the Revolution Shield table.