The criminals always find a way around these things.
I was thinking the same thing. Using something to sand or grind off the nos. wouldn't be that difficult. It goes back to the point that laws are for the law abiding. Criminals don't care about the laws.
True, and the person who fires a bullet is not necissarily the person who purchased them,
If a criminal steals your weapon and ammo, what good will that do?
And I see an easy way around this thing. CA is the only state in the SW that will require the etching, so anyone planning to commit a crime with a gun can simply drive over the line into AZ or NV and buy his ammo.
Of course any handloader can cast his own lead bullets for target shooting and plinking if he doesn't want to buy ammo loaded with etched bullets. I have loaded hand-cast lead bullets in .45acp and .45 Colt handloads I used for small game hunting, and they worked just as well as factory jacketed bullets on small critters like rabbits and armadillos. Cast lead bullets in rifle ammo also work well on large game in the proper calibers like .45-70 and such. I have never used them for that purpose, but a lot of old timers like Elmer Keith swore by them. In fact, all big game taken before smokeless propellant came on the market was killed by cast lead bullets.
99% of CA shooters will probably just buy the serial numbered ammo and grouch about it. But I'm pretty sure some will refuse to submit to this scheme designed primarily (I suspect) just to raise the cost of ammo and thereby reduce the amount sold and used by recreational shooters. I suspect anything proposed by a CA state official to be another nefarious scheme for suppressing private firearms ownership and use.
"The criminals always find a way around these things."
It's called steal ammo...