Posted on 04/21/2006 7:41:44 AM PDT by SmithL
California could become the first state in the nation to require semi-automatic handguns include microscopic equipment for pressing an identifying mark into every bullet fired.
Through newly developed technology, the firing pin of a semi-automatic weapon can stamp the gun's make and model onto a bullet shell as it leaves the chamber. The technology could help police investigate homicides and trace gun trafficking.
Thirty-three California police chiefs and two county sheriffs support a bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, that would require the markers.
"It has the potential to solve some significant crimes in some pretty large numbers," Koretz said in a telephone interview.
Officers could quickly match the casing numbers to weapons on a state gun sales database maintained by the California Department of Justice.
It's the second go-round for the bill, which passed the Assembly easily last year but was defeated in the Senate. This year, the votes are there, Koretz said.
Nearly 1,800 Californians lost their lives to gun violence in 2004, according to the state Department of Justice. But police make arrests in only 55 percent of homicides due to the lack of sufficient evidence.
Sam Paredes, director of the 30,000-member California Gun Owners Association, said proponents of the bill are engaging in "a lot of wishful thinking" if they believe mandating the technology will turn that around.
"All it takes is a few swipes (on the pin) with a sandpaper or nail file, and (the marker) is gone," he said.
He called the technology "laughable," saying trigger-happy criminals could outwit police investigators by picking up spent shells at a shooting range and sprinkling them at a crime scene.
That drew a big laugh from Todd Lizotte, who developed the technology for use in laser printers while he was vice president of NanoVia, a semiconductor and microelectronic equipment manufacturer bought by Hitachi in 2003.
There's nothing stopping perpetrators of gun violence from doing that now, he said.
"The truth is, nobody ever does that," he said. "When people talk about these issues, they tend to raise the common criminal up to the level of criminal mastermind and the police down to the level of (cartoon character) Wile E. Coyote."
The pin is nearly as hard as a diamond, he said. In addition, the markers on the pin are invisible to the naked eye.
The technology expands on the incidental markings that already appear on cartridge casings, Lizotte said. "Instead of relying on randomly created marks, we're placing an identifier specific to that firearm."
Hitachi acquired NanoVia, but not its ballistic imaging component. That went to ID Dynamics, a holding company founded by Lizotte and his partners.
An Assembly revote is being held up while Koretz and Assemblyman Jay La Suer, R-San Diego, the bill's chief critic, agree on a date for a demonstration.
"I told him if they're able to file (the pin) down, I'll halt the bill," Koretz said. "My understanding of the technology is that it's pretty foolproof."
The bill has the support of state Attorney General Bill Lockyer and police chiefs from Los Angeles. Also supporting the bill are police chiefs from four cities in Alameda County -- Berkeley, Oakland, Pleasanton and San Leandro -- and six cities in Contra Costa County -- Antioch, Clayton, Kensington, Richmond, San Pablo and Walnut Creek. The Alameda County Sheriff also supports the bill.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger does not comment on pending bills, a spokeswoman said.
Parendes of the Gun Owners Association said the bill "doesn't stand the chance of a snowball in the deep, dark center of the earth."
Meanwhile, a growing number of cities and counties are voting on resolutions supporting the bill. One in Contra Costa County, sponsored by Supervisors John Gioia of Richmond and Mark DeSaulnier of Concord, squeaked by in a 3-2 vote April 11.
Supervisor Gayle Uilkema of Lafayette said the bill amounts to an unfunded state mandate with counties left to pick up the costs. But the bill's supporters say there are no costs to local government.
Outfitting new guns will cost the manufacturers 25 cents to 50 cents per firearm, Lizotte said. More than 70 percent of new handguns sold in California are semi-automatic.
"I question people who opposed something so straightforward," said Griffin Dix, California state council president of the Million Mom March. "You can put an identifying number on every container of yogurt you sell, but not on a gun?"
Any knowledgeable hitman uses a revolver anyway.
Generally a .22, in fact.
Any knowledgeable hitman uses a revolver anyway.
Generally a .22, in fact.
--here we go again--
This is so stupid. It would be so easy to erase the die on the end of the firing pin.
"The pin is nearly as hard as a diamond"
This kind of stuff is just laughable.
How soon will it be that you can buy a firing pin on eBay that stamps "This gun ow3ed by Diane Feinstein" on every shell?
And when they can't do it, (Technically), the semi-auto pistol becomes an illegal gun - how convenient.
I also like the idea of sprinkling spent casing from a firing range.
What are they thinking with? There are aftermarket replacement firing pins. And nothing's easier than removing a firearm firing pin and polishing it.
That's because people, generally speaking, don't use the same yogurt container over and over again. They do, however, reload firearms after firing a few rounds through them. (They're not like throw-away cameras where you toss them when all of the pictures have been taken.) If people used yogurt containers like they do firearms, then the serial numbers would wear off in short order.
I smell a mass exodus of gun manufacturers selling in The People's Republik of Kalifornia. This law is absolutely ridiculous, and it's another attempt to subvert the Constitution of the United States. Go to Hell you Kalifornia sycophants! Give us our freedom, lest we take away yours at the ballot box!
A "bullet shell?" Jeeeez...
Multimillion-dollar initiative defeated by less than a penny's worth of sandpaper.
It will take any criminal thirty secons with a file to disable this thing.
The only people affected will be law-abiding gunowners.
Next thing you know, they'll require licensing and registration for these:
Woodworkers, beware!
Oh, please! This is nothing but an attempt at back door gun banning. As I see it, the motive is to make gun makers stop doing business in California.
Then, after the guns are banned, they call all sit together around the campfire singing 'kumbaya' and live in perfect peace with the earth.
You can have my Swiss files when you pry them from my cold, dead fingers!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.