Posted on 06/05/2005 1:07:43 AM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
SACRAMENTO – A novel proposal to etch identifying serial numbers on handgun ammunition sold in California narrowly passed the Senate yesterday, although supporters conceded the legislation remains a work in progress.
The measure, Senate Bill 357, passed on a bare-majority, 21-14 vote that split along party lines, with Democrats in support. The vote sent the bill to the Assembly, which has long been the decisive battleground for gun-control initiatives.
A related measure, to require manufacturers to equip some semiautomatic handguns with components that would place an identifying code on spent cartridges, passed the Assembly 41-38 and was sent to the Senate.
The Senate measure is sponsored by Attorney General Bill Lockyer but so far has drawn tepid support from the balance of the state's law enforcement community. It would link purchasers to handgun ammunition through an electronic swipe of a driver license at the point of sale.
Manufacturers say the proposal would force drastic changes to a high-volume, low-margin business. The required modifications to the manufacturing process, the companies warned, would either drive them out of business or send consumer prices skyward.
Sen. Joseph Dunn, a Garden Grove Democrat who introduced the bill for Lockyer, said he is working with law enforcement groups to resolve concerns about how to treat a massive existing inventory, possession of unmarked ammunition in homes and an exemption sought for shooting ranges.
Sen Bill Morrow, R-Oceanside, illustrated the magnitude of the potential ammunition stockpile in the state. He has used about half of a substantial supply his father left when he died in 1981, Morrow said.
"If I plan right, I figure it will get me through the rest of my life," Morrow said.
Morrow and other opponents questioned whether the proposal, which has never been attempted anywhere else, was technologically feasible. Aides to Lockyer said manufacturers place individual serial numbers on many different consumer products.
The Assembly bill, AB 352 by Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, would apply only to future production of easily concealable semiautomatic handguns that have not passed a state safety test.
Dang, Thats on my wish list!
Heh! Revolvers don't need brass catchers. I see a renaissance in wheel-gun popularity with the criminal class.
Tell me about it!
List price without optics is $1,948.00. The ACOG is $1,295.00.
Sigh.
You're right. Speaking of which, I was looking at a S&W Model 29 in 44Mag 4" barrel for concealed carry.
Anyone have thoughts on this versus something in Taurus?
Other than the whole "S&W sold us down the river and the new owners still haven't repudiated the deal with the devil" thing?
If I did go S&W, it would definately be used, as cost prohibit otherwise, and I would not want to directly support their sell-out.
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