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We are a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with the mission to keep our nation’s K-12 schools safe by providing education, information, research, accreditation, and guidance to our communities. The NSSPA utilizes a diverse group of experts and professionals from across the nation to help the public prevent, mitigate, prepare, and respond to, and recover from emergencies primarily in a K-12 environment.
According to 2016 data, there are 131,390 private and public schools in the United States, with 56 million students and 8 million staff members.
The NSSPA is here for each and every one of you.
We complete our mission by utilizing diverse
We offer various events that help educate and inform the user regarding safety & security in our schools. We are here to help you navigate through the sometime muddy waters of safety & security in the K-12 environment.
Protecting from unintentional or accidental damage, loss, injury, or death. Typically unplanned acts.
Protecting from intentional and/or man-made damage, loss, injury, or death. Typically planned and deliberate acts.
An individual active engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area.
Any time a gun is fired on school grounds, involving a school bus, during a school event, during school hours, or right before or after school.
Military and police refer to doorways as fatal funnels because you can easily be killed entering through one. The NSSPA has renamed the Fatal Funnel to a Life Opening since that same doorway can save lives. In addition to the door, the Life Opening includes the handle, lock, hinges, frame, glass/vision lite, and any adjacent glass. The reason for this is that active shooters have not only shot the door or door glass but they have also broken the side lites to gain entry to a room or building.
Safety Film:
1. Invented to protect glass from shattering due to high wind or weather conditions.
2. Safety film is made to protect against accidental damage to a glass window.
3. Was not designed to stop or slow down a human attack.
4. Was not designed to slow down or stop an attacker with a firearm or someone with malicious intent.
5. No safety film or window film in the world is bullet resistant or bulletproof.
Security Film:
1. Provides for the reduction of risk or the occurrence of injury, loss, or death from the intentional actions of man.
2. Is designed for anti-intrusion and will substantially delay and/or prevent an intruder from entering.
3. Will give more time for people inside to get to safety and for emergency response teams to arrive.
4. It has been tested to the ASTM F3561 Standard, a much higher standard than the safety film. The ASTM F3561 Standard is recommended by the National Glass Association (NGA)
The ASTM F3561 test method was created by subject matter experts in active shooter, physical security, and counter-terrorism that are former military, special forces, SWAT, and Federal law enforcement. The Standard Test Method for ASTM F3561, “Forced-Entry-Resistance of Fenestration Systems After Simulated Active Shooter Attack,” is the only testing standard in the glass and door industry that combines shooting specimens with an AR15 and then attacking them with a 100-lb ram with a repeatable and measurable amount of force. The door and hardware industry has utilized battering rams to measure the force a door and hardware can withstand in their Attack Resistant Certifications. However, it has never added shooting the product first until now. We stand firm and united with the National Glass Association’s decision to mandate this standard on all film and glass used for all door glass and adjoining glass for schools across America. We recommend ASTM F3561 hardening for all Life Openings in America’s K-12 Schools.
After the attack at The Covenant School on March 27, 2023, we have received many inquiries regarding the use of security film to harden exterior openings at schools, especially in the area of BF, BP, and BR window film.
Q: Can I achieve a bullet resistant rating when applying window film to existing glass?
A: NO! Almost all existing glass at K-12 schools in the U.S. is only 1/4″ thick. No window film manufacturing company has any testing certifications with UL, ASTM, or NIJ for any level of bullet resistance after applying a single layer of their film. Glass would need to be 1/2″ to 1″ thick and tested to the UL 752 standard.
Window film is not meant to be layered on top of itself as it can delaminate and lose strength over time.
Q: Are the product demonstration where ballistic film stops bullets real?
A: NO! Always ask to see the thickness of the glass. Some companies are using 1/2″ or 1″ thick glass along with their window film during demos, not 1/4″ glass which is used in schools. Some companies also apply multiple layers of film on the glass to falsely claim a BR Level.
Q: Is there such thing as bullet proof glass and/or film?
A: NO! There is no such thing as bullet proof glass and/or film. Even bullet resistant glass only stops 1-5 rounds. The bullets eventually do penetrate. There is no forcible entry testing once the specimen is shot. This is why we urge schools to look for options that have been tested where it is shot and attacked.
A civilian’s use of deadly force is generally justified if they reasonably believe that they or another person are in imminent danger of death or serious injury.
“Duty to retreat” laws are in-place in seventeen states which specifically pertain to the use of deadly force. These states expects individuals to attempt to retreat from imminent danger by running or escaping. If the person(s) are physically unable to flee, then the use of deadly force can be considered self defense. If a person is cornered or physically restrained and facing bodily injury or death, they are then authorized to use whatever force necessary to protect themselves.
