California proposal would laser-brand id number on bullets

World News [New Zealand] ^ | 8 October 2004 | staff

[Rakkasan1]

another headline to use:
"backdoor ammo tax coming to Kalifornia"...

[ServesURight]

California's attorney general wants to crack down on gun violence....

... a state that already has some of the toughest such laws in the United States.

But this can't be. If they already have tough gun control laws, then (glub, glub) how can they have so much gun violence?

They need more tough laws which should alleviate the problem.

[12 Gauge Mossberg]

This is absolutely sickening. I hope Mount St. Helens spew some volcanic ash towards Sacramento.

[BadAndy]

"It seems these guys have never heard of an intertial bullet puller. For the price of a $20 tool you can put a new lead bullet in your case."

You would also need a press and a set of dies, and you have to buy new bullets (also marked?). It is also a pain in the azz.
No one will do this unless they plan to commit a crime.

[Chinito]

Be sure you police all your brass at the range cuz some gang banger is going to be reloading YOUR spent casings marked with YOUR serial number. /s?(Don't know if I should turn sarcasm on or off)

Man, things are going from bad to worse here in my state (CA - or is it CA CA??)

[donmeaker]

So you think all re-loaders are criminals?

Or do you think that all criminals are too dumb to pull a bullet, and cast one out of wheel weights.

Hey do you think there may be a black market in unmarked bullets?

[Hard Way]

If they want to laser-brand my bullets, they better be able to do it at anywhere from 800-1600 f.p.s.

[txdoda]

headline should read....

"CA Dims Wish To Create Black Market For *Unbranded* Bullets.

[Osage Orange]

Bullets without such micro-markings, including those from outside the state, would be barred by law

Well, sure nobody will break the law...right?

[CAfraudPI]

When the flock does Lockyer's term expire!?!?! Not soon enough!

[Redcloak]

OK... I'm taking off my "common FReeper hat" and putting on my "optical engineer hat". (And no, I'm not wearing PJs.)

THIS WON'T WORK.

Laser etching systems don't mark product instantaneously. It takes time to mark each part. As the marking is being done. the part, of course, must be stationary; it can't be done on-the-fly. Considering the tremendous volume of ammunition produced at the larger plants in this country, even a delay of a few milliseconds would bottleneck most manufacturer's lines. (I can imagine a system that would be nearly on-the-fly, but one misfeed would be disastrous.)

Next, consider the database that would be needed to keep track of all those marks. If all ammo, including .22, is included, that's several billion records per year. Even if each record is only a few dozen bytes long, the storage demand becomes huge in a very short period of time.

[Centurion2000]

I'm thinking I could make a very profitable living beign a gun and ammo runner from The rest of the USA to California.

These people have lost their minds.

[glorgau]

Well, a criminal could scatter some spent shells collected at a gun range. It would then be incumbant upon the innocent sportsperson to prove their innocence.

[Ajnin]

Good point.

[boris]

I buy my ammo from Cascade Ammunition (Washington State, I think). I suppose this "law" would force them to stop UPS-ing the ammunition to my address in CA, eh?

--Boris

[Joe Hadenuf]

if this 'plan' is successful, it could be bad news for all gun owners.

Like the prevailing winds that blow west to east, I would say you're correct in that assumption.

[BadAndy]

"So you think all re-loaders are criminals?"

Of course not, I have reloaded over 20K rounds myself. People are suggesting that shooters should dismantle live rounds and reassemble them using different components. Why in the world would I do that if I am just going to shoot them into a backstop?

"Or do you think that all criminals are too dumb to pull a bullet, and cast one out of wheel weights."

Most criminals are stupid and/or lazy. I seriously doubt that they would take the trouble to learn how to cast bullets (not trivial) or how to reload. It's too much like work.

Don't get me wrong. I don't support this labeling idiocy. My point was that the strategy proposed for coping with it wasn't practical. Best to kill it before it becomes law.

[El Gato]

Now these kooks want bullets to be registered?

Apparnetly each with it's own serial number. Do these yahoos have any idea how many rounds are sold and fired in the state each year. Sure most of them are .22 long rifle, but it's a heck of lot of serial numbers.

It also means you'll have to register your ammo when you buy it. If it comes to pass, everyone in California should go out an buy a box of every kind of ammo they can afford, even it they don't have firearm that chambers it. Then trade with those who do. That ought to confuse their statistical analysts.

[El Gato]

Laser ID on bird shot??

Probably not, but I'll bet they try to get it on buckshot. Of course we ought to ask that it not be done until they can put it on the "dust" that is used in handgun "snake" rounds.

[El Gato]

Get some wheel weights, put them in a pot, turn up the heat, put them in your $10 mold and be happy.

Sound's like they want the brass marked as well. I'm sure they'll make possession of unmarked ammo a felony. You'll get punished, while someone who commits assault will get a misdemeanor. Of course once they tag you with a felony, there goes your RKBA, even if you move to Texas or other "gun friendly" location, the feds will see to that.