After the Jan. 6 riot on the U.S. Capitol, 20,000 members of the National Guard were deployed to Washington to support law enforcement. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
Just days before a new president enters the White House, promising to unify a dangerously divided country, the state of the union can perhaps be judged by this metric: America is facing a shortage of bulletproof vests, gas masks and ballistic helmets.
Some retailers of protective equipment have seen a five-fold increase in sales…
