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| Gun 'Microstamping' Bill Passes California Senate |
| 2006-08-25 |
| The California Senate on Thursday passed a bill that would require the "microstamping" of semi-automatic handguns -- giving cartridges fired from those guns a unique imprint, which according to gun control advocates, would help police solve crimes. Supporters say microstamping would turn spent cartridges into potential evidence in civil and criminal cases. According the California Million Mom March, "when the police retrieve the bullet casing at a crime scene, they can quickly track down the legal owner of the handgun that fired it." Nonsense, say Second Amendment supporters, who view the bill as yet another attempt to burden gun manufacturers and further restrict gun sales in the state. They say that gun makers, faced with the added expense of microstamping semiautomatic weapons, would either stop selling their wares in California or drastically raise prices. The bill (AB 352) would "expand the definition of unsafe handgun to include semiautomatic pistols that are not designed and equipped with a microscopic array of characters, that identify the make, model, and serial number of the pistol, etched into the interior surface or internal working parts of the pistol, and which are transferred by imprinting on each cartridge case when the firearm is fired." The bill passed the California Senate 22-18 and it now goes to the Assembly -- for a "fight and a final vote," said the California NRA Members' Councils, a grassroots gun-rights network. The bill's lead sponsor, Assemblyman Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood) acting in tandem with the Coalition to Stop Handgun Violence, has been fighting to pass the bill since last year. Griffin Dix, the president of the California Million Mom March Chapters, said police fail to make an arrest in approximately 45 percent of all homicides in California because they lack the evidence they need. "This bill will help police...by providing them with new and meaningful leads for solving handgun crimes," Dix said. But the California NRA Members' Councils says the microstamping would create false evidence trails. "Micro-stamped cartridge cases fired and abandoned at government agencies facilities or private shooting ranges could be gathered and used to 'seed' crime scenes with the with 'evidence,' implicating law enforcement officers and citizens" in crimes they had nothing to do with, the group said in an analysis on its website. The gun-rights group also said microstamped cartridges could not be recycled because they might implicate secondary users of reloaded cartridges. "Millions of pounds of metals will be turned into scrap and require expense disposal requirements imposed so it will not enter landfills." And without the ability to sell and recycle used (microstamped) cartridge cases, the cost of firearms training will increase for government agencies, the gun rights group added. Second Amendment supporters also note that microstamps can be easily defeated by replacing parts of the handgun that have been stamped; polishing the microstamp with abrasives or modifying the stamp; and in some cases, the stamped markings may be filled in with residue produced by normal firing of the gun. Paul Helmke, the new president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, applauded the California State Senate for "embracing this innovative technology," and he said he hopes Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger "will listen to a fellow Republican and sign this bill once it passes." Second Amendment supporters, meanwhile, say they will mobilize grassroots opposition to the bill in an effort to prevent it from landing on the governor's desk. |
| Posted by:mcsegeek1 |
| #16 http://www.roughwheelers.com/montego/gun_cam.html |
| Posted by: Phegum Spins7297 2006-08-25 23:01 |
| #15 Announcer (think Curt Gowdy):"It's a incredibly tight race in this high-stakes contest to see which state can claim the Air America Prize for Most Indubitably Stupid Electorate in the US! Coming around the turn into the stretch it's the usual contenders, Cal and NY neck and neck, with Vermont coming up fast on the outside and Mass in fourth. Cal and NY, Cal and NY. SUDDENLY CAL STARTS TO OPEN A LEAD!" (to be continued) |
| Posted by: mac 2006-08-25 21:50 |
| #14 Guns don't commit crimes, people do. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-08-25 21:02 |
| #13 another stupid bill that would make more bad "unintended consequences" for law abiding gun owners and honest citizens who want to purchase more fire arms. Less government is the best government. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2006-08-25 19:50 |
| #12 I hear the rap stars want their all their bodyguards to have diamond encrusted shell casings with their monograms on them. Seeing how it's the law and all... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-08-25 18:40 |
| #11 Unless, of course, some criminal uses a gun made before the law goes into effect. Or imports a gun from another state, or uses some of the other techniques mentioned here. Luckily criminals are stupid and would never think of such things. So this measure should pretty much end gun crime in California. /sarcasm |
| Posted by: Rambler 2006-08-25 18:30 |
| #10 Embrace this innovative technology! That’s Schwarzenegger’s new catch phrase in the next sequel “Terminator 6. – Microstamp (AB 352)”. He shouts it out right before he saws down an entire police precinct with a futuristic hand-held ballistic missile. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2006-08-25 17:43 |
| #9 Increased sales of revolvers will be the result. LOLOL. |
| Posted by: Brett 2006-08-25 17:35 |
| #8 Or like any criminal, use a hot* gun and just drop it clean at the scene. How many shootings have involved criminals who by existing law are not suppose to have a gun? Donkwits. *stolen |
| Posted by: Snish Whoque7727 2006-08-25 16:51 |
| #7 Ballistics is about bullets. This is concerning shell casings. |
| Posted by: Abdominal Snowman 2006-08-25 16:51 |
| #6 Or even replacing the firing pin or filing down the part that does the stamping. Stupid fucking donks. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2006-08-25 16:50 |
| #5 Of course, no one would dream of firing the gun inside their car or putting a catch screen over your ejection port. Or, if you have a few seconds, policing up your cartriges. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-08-25 16:48 |
| #4 The California Senate on Thursday passed a bill that would require the "microstamping" of semi-automatic handguns -- giving cartridges fired from those guns a unique imprint, which according to gun control advocates, would help police solve crimes. You mean, like... now? I think it's called "ballistics"? I saw it on CSI... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-08-25 16:27 |
| #3 Crap like this is prima facie evidence of the dumbing down of the American people and the fascist, "Rules are for Republicans" attitude of the Blue State Democrat establishment |
| Posted by: RWV 2006-08-25 16:18 |
| #2 Awright! More FeelGood(tm) legislation from California. I feel better already, although I suspect the microstamping could be disabled by an enterprising criminal with a dremel tool and a few minutes time. If this law only applies to semi-automatics, will it result in revolvers becoming the weapon of choice among the criminally minded? |
| Posted by: SteveS 2006-08-25 16:18 |
| #1 In other news, the S&W Gun cam still shows no suspicious activity by the gun. I thought guns caused crime? |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2006-08-25 15:29 |