Ballistics statute faulted

The Washington Times ^ | January 18, 2005 | Brian Witte

[neverdem]

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The Washington Times
www.washingtontimes.com

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Ballistics statute faulted

By Brian Witte
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published January 18, 2005

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BALTIMORE -- A law requiring Maryland State Police to collect ballistics information from each handgun sold in the state should be repealed because the expensive system is flawed and has not helped a criminal investigation since it was adopted in 2000, a state police report has concluded.

    The report recommended transferring laboratory technicians who work on the Integrated Ballistics Identification System to the state police DNA Database Unit.

    "The program simply has not met expectations and does not aid in the mission statement of the Department of State Police," the report said.

    Col. Thomas E. Hutchins, the state police superintendent, said he would like to spend the money instead on proven crime-fighting techniques. About $2.5 million has been spent on the program.

    "The system really is not doing anything," Col. Hutchins said.

    Maryland was the first state to adopt a ballistic fingerprinting law in April 2000. New York is the only other state to have such a database.

    When a bullet is fired, it is scratched with unique markings, or "fingerprints," as it passes through the gun's barrel. The law requires gun manufacturers to test-fire handguns and send a spent shell casing from each gun sold in Maryland to the state police. The agency is required to enter the casing's markings into a database, using a digital image designed for future gun tracing.

    But the report, compiled in September by the Maryland State Police Forensic Sciences Division, concluded the ballistics identification system has failed "to provide any meaningful hits."

[Southack]

To paraphrase Will Smith in I, Robot...

Somehow "I told you so" just doesn't suffice.

[theDentist]

A law requiring Maryland State Police to collect ballistics information from each handgun sold in the state should be repealed because the expensive system is flawed and has not helped a criminal investigation since it was adopted in 2000, a state police report has concluded.

BWAAAAHAAAHAHAhahahahahahahaaaaa!!!!!

[handy old one]

Now we all know that when guns go bad, and kill people they may be able to modify the information on the ballistics reports to make it appear it was another firearm that did the shooting so the afore mentioned weapon is not charged with the less than exceptable behavior.

[MediaMole]

When a bullet is fired, it is scratched with unique markings, or "fingerprints," as it passes through the gun's barrel. The law requires gun manufacturers to test-fire handguns and send a spent shell casing from each gun sold in Maryland to the state police.

Well, there's the problem.

[ko_kyi]

The ache in my rear is that the dolts who advocated this in 2000 will likely never be held accountable for the millions of taxpayer dollars pi$$ed away on this stupid idea.

[ctdonath2]

Ditto for New York, which has yet to acknowledge the pointlessness of it.

[DocH]

Well NO-SHIITE, you liberal, panty-waste, anti-gun, Peoples Republic of Maryland liberals! Yet ANOTHER waste of taxpayers dollars to support a flawed liberal anti-gun boondoggle. As usual, nothing but FEEL-GOOD legislation and "programs" from them. Not as bad as the BILLION dollar (Canadian) WASTE that is Canadian gun control, but bad enough, ESPECIALLY here, in the "land of the FREE".

[ko_kyi]

For MD residents, the sponsors were:

Senator Ulysses Currie, District 25 (PG County, still in office)

Senator Paula C. Hollinger, District 11 (Baltimore County, still in office)

Senator Edward J. Kasemeyer, District 12 (Baltimore and Howard County, still in office)

Senator Gloria Lawlah, District 26 (PG County, still in office)

Senator Nathaniel J. McFadden, District 45 (Baltimore County, still in office)

Senator Ida G. Ruben, District 20 (Montgomery County, still in office)

Senator Leonard H. Teitelbaum, District 19 (Montgomery County, still in office)

Senator Christopher Van Hollen, Jr., District 18 (Now US Representative for MD district 8 - Democrat)

These are the people who sponsored the ballistic fingerprinting waste of money.

[rellimpank]

--I eagerly await a Sixty Minutes expose' on this, which could perhaps be combined with one on the non-effectiveness of the assault weapons ban--

[Blood of Tyrants]

Let me ask you a question: when was the last time the liberals abandoned an idea just because it was completley wrong and the program was a total failure?

Mark my words, they will say that the reason the program didn't work was because the database wasn't big enough so they will want ALL guns in the state to be ballistically "fingerprinted". They will then push for a law to force peole to bring in all their guns for testing.

When that doesn't work they will say that it is because citizens/criminals (they are the same to liberals so when they disarm a citizen, they believe they have disarmed a potential criminal) are changing parts in their guns so they will call for ALL parts of the gun to be individually serialized and sold and installed only through a state licensed gunsmith after which the gun will be resubmitted for a new test.

When that doesn't work you will be required to submit your gun for testing yearly so that the database can be kept current. Don't worry, the back log is only 14 months long.

[ChefKeith]

Time for the residents of Maryland to do some ousting...

[ko_kyi]

I don't expect liberals to abandon a dumb idea, I hope that just one of these buffoons will get voted out of office. Sometimes liberal ideas can at least get moderated - welfare reform, CCW in some states, etc.

Talk about dumb ideas, one of our MD delegates wanted children who are overweight to be registered in a state government database. They would be weighed twice a year and the database maintained. When asked what the info would be used for, since there is no program for fat kids, she replied that once we have the data we can create a program.

Hmm, that makes about as much sense as the ballistics database.

[ko_kyi]

ChefKeith, I will likely be a TX resident before these folks are out of office.

[Yo-Yo]

Hmm, I wonder if the unique 'scratches and marks' on the first bullet fired from a new firearm match the ones on the 100th bullet, or 1,000th bullet fired?

</sarcasm>

[ChefKeith]

We got room, come on down.

Just stay away from Austin,Dallas,Houston,San Antonio & El Paso and you will be fine.

[rellimpank]

--with the Canadian model as a prime example, you are most likely correct.

Along with that, the "neighboring state" argument will be resurrected.

[nightdriver]

"When a bullet is fired, it is scratched with unique markings, or "fingerprints," as it passes through the gun's barrel. The law requires gun manufacturers to test-fire handguns and send a spent shell casing from each gun sold in Maryland to the state police."

So what do they catalog, the bullet or the shell casing?

[Publius6961]

The ache in my rear is that the dolts who advocated this in 2000 will likely never be held accountable for the millions of taxpayer dollars pi$$ed away on this stupid idea.

Well, the next best thing is to start collecting their names, and publicizing what ignorant stupid jackasses look like.

[neverdem]

So what do they catalog, the bullet or the shell casing?

I could be wrong, but I think they do both. I'm pretty sure the ATF's IBIS system does both. Here's a link.