DHS Better Ballistic Body Armor Act

Summary · Congressional Research Service (nonpartisan)

This bill requires ballistic resistant body armor issued to agents and officers of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to meet certain requirements related to fit, coverage, and testing on female body shapes. Ballistic resistant body armor means ballistic protection for the torso worn over or under clothing (e.g., bulletproof vests). (Testing by the Federal Bureau of Investigation found that certain soft body armor, when worn by women, allowed projectiles to skip off the armor panel in the chest area and project into the unprotected throat area. New body armor models that mitigate this issue are now available and in use by some federal agencies.) Under the bill, ballistic resistant body armor procured by DHS for agents and officers whose body shapes are most closely associated with female must be made to conform and provide the best possible coverage to individual wearers, allowing for either flat or shaped front panels; have enhanced and advanced fit technology that stops bullets from skipping off the chest at an upward angle; and have passed certain testing by the National Institute of Justice, including testing on female-shaped molds. Within three years of the bill’s enactment, all DHS agents and officers whose body shapes are most closely associated with female must be issued body armor that meets these requirements.