Old Dominion Terror Attack Exposes the Myth of Gun Tracing

AmmoLand ^ | March 20, 2026 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

The gun used in the terror attack on Old Dominion University was a stolen .22 caliber handgun that uses 10-round magazines. The pistol was untraceable for two common reasons. First, the gun was stolen. This breaks any chain of custody. A trace only goes to the first retail purchaser. When a gun is stolen, there is no link from the legal purchaser to the thief. From apnews.com:

The man charged Friday, Kenya Chapman, told federal agents in an interview that he stole the gun from a car in Newport News, Virginia, about a year before the shooting and recently sold it to Jalloh, according to an affidavit filed in court. Chapman said he met Jalloh at work and that Jalloh told him he needed the gun for protection as a delivery driver, the affidavit says.

The second reason the pistol was untraceable was that the serial number was partly obliterated. From unionbulletin.com:

Jalloh was still on supervised release from a 2017 prison sentence — and barred from carrying firearms — when he barged into an Army ROTC classroom at Old Dominion University on Thursday morning.

He was carrying a loaded Glock 44 .22-caliber pistol with a partially obliterated serial number, according to the newly filed court documents in U.S. District Court in Norfolk.

When a firearm’s serial number is obliterated or altered, it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to trace. There are other common reasons why the firearms tracing system is almost never used to solve crimes of violence. The most common reason gun traces are not useful for solving violent crimes is that they are seldom found at the scene of the crime. When guns are found at the scene of a violent crime, they are often found with the person who used them, as happened in this case.

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TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: atf; banglist; illegalguns; terror; trace

[marktwain]

The gun tracing system in the USA is less than useless in solving violent crimes. It squanders vast resources to no practical effect. The primary purpose is to serve as a proto-registration system.

[MtnClimber]

many states require no paperwork for person to person transfers.

[smokingfrog]

Sometimes, legal guns are used illegally.
So we need to make all guns illegal.
Then only illegal guns will be used illegally.

liberal logic

[Paal Gulli]

"...When a firearm’s serial number is obliterated or altered, it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to trace...."

I have untold respect for Mr. Weingarten, and I'm glad he pointesd this out, but the truth is serial numbers are almost always recoverable, provided you have access to the technical means and are willing to spend the forensic dollars to do it.

Crims usually only do enough damage to the firearm to prevent reading the serial number on superficial examination, and you'd have to remove a substantial amount of material to remove the recoverable traces left at the molecular level by stamping, roll-marking or laser-etching of serial numbers.

One of the defining characteristics of all metals (in solid form) is they have a crystalline molecular structure, and that structure will be uniform at the time of manufacture. But the crystalline pattern will be altered by later application of extreme pressure and/or heat. And those alterations in the patterns of the crystals -- which might be detectable through processes as simple as acid etching or magnafluxing -- penetrate to a substantial depth beneath the markings themselves.

But the equipment and the staff that know how to use it are costly, and as Mr W notes, the results of those test rarely contribute to s successful prosecution, so there's not much return on that investment.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Just curious but has ANYONE found out what type of firearms were used at the Canadian school shooting not long back? It seems a blackout on all info has taken place by the RCMP.
All I have seen was a distant photo of the rifle, and it did not look like an E-e-evil A-s-sault Rifle!

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***.22 caliber handgun that uses 10-round magazines. ***

I remember back to late 1970 or earl 1971. The Denver Post Sunday supplement had a long article on what a SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL was!
Any handgun that cost $45 or less (at 1970 prices) was an EVIL SNS and needed to be banned. The photo shown was a Ruger MK II.
Today that Ruger costs about $450 or more. Think of all the good handguns that cost less than that.

[dagunk]

The only way to obliterate the serial number is to drill it out - leave holes where the numbers used to be.

This after discussion with some forensic types who recovered a motorcycle of mine and it showed damage to the serial number area. They had recovered the number.

53 years ago. I expect techniques have improved since then.

[marktwain]

many states require no paperwork for person to person transfers.

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The vast majority of states do not require paperwork for person to person transfers.

I think it is 40 of 50 states. There have been recent changes both ways, so the exact number is not clear to me at this time.

[marktwain]

Drill out one number, and you increase the investigative work by at least 10x. When a letter is drilled out, you increase the investigative work by at least 26x.

Even with that level of work, the finding of the original owner who purchased the firearm retail is far from certain.

[marktwain]

I’m glad he pointesd this out, but the truth is serial numbers are almost always recoverable, provided you have access to the technical means and are willing to spend the forensic dollars to do it.

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Another complication in the mix is many modern guns have the serial number engraved or on a separate metal plate which might be removed from a plastic frame. Not all serial numbers are stamped any more. There are various methods available to recover serial numbers from these technologies as well.