A few facts about armor, and how I plan to handle it/them in my own game.
Okay, most body armor in the US is tested and rated by the National Institute of Justice, which is the R&D as well as Test & Eval arm of the Department of Justice. Below are some links to NIJ pages with more specific information about various types of armor. Higher levels of ballistic protection (Type V and higher) are apparently available but it military equipment with the levels of protection being classified.
Body armor ballistic resistance:
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/223054.pdfBody armor stab resistance:
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/183652.pdfBody armor selection guide:
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/189633.pdfNow, armor that is good at providing protection vs. pistol or even rifles rounds is frequently going to provide little or no protection against edged/pointed weapons like arrows, spears or blades. The will also provide a minimal amount of protection vs. blunt force trauma. All of the has to do with physics, the construction of the armor, and how the armor deals with the particular type of threat it was designed to protect against.
For instance, armor with steel plates to protect against stabs can provide some protection against gunfire. However, they can also cause greater injury to the wearer if they do get shot as well, since fragments from the steel plate (spall) can break off and become projectiles which strike the wearer.
Now for the way I plan on handling armor in my campaign...
I'm going to have the player tell me what armor they wish to purchase, or wish to make or have made for them. If they choose to purchase a standard bulletproof vest it would provide Armor: 2 vs. gunfire, but basically no protection against other types of attacks. I say this because a commercially available Type IIIA is rated to protect against .357SIG and .44 Magnum handgun rounds and costs under $500 new, which works out to a Resources roll of Average (+1) or higher to purchase it. Not exactly something difficult for a player to accomplish, or if they have Good (+3) or better Resources, or just Average (+1) and the stunt Lush Lifestyle, they don't even need to roll to make the Resources check. In short, if players plan ahead and want it, body armor is easy for them to get, therefore I wouldn't automatically make it all inclusive in terms of protection, since it really isn't.
If they wanted full on military grade body armor which is ~$3,000 or so, I'd then either require additional successes due to the restricted nature of the armor (LE/Mil-only) and/or successes in Contacts rolls to indicate success in finding someone willing to sell a restricted item, but the armor they end up with would provide a higher level of protection, and/or a more comprehensive protection.
-Cheers