Posted on 04/28/2006 8:53:03 AM PDT by neverdem
Knight Ridder Newspapers
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - 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 support a bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Paul Koretz, a West Hollywood Democrat, 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, a San Diego Republican and 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 and six cities in Contra Costa County. 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?"
The left will not give up.
Join the NRA.
Who cares? This law, useless as it may be, will make us FEEEEEEEEL better! And it will let tax-and-spend leftists appear "tough on crime" to appear to moderates! Waah!
Just more stupid harrassment from the left. They are incrementally trying to disarm the public. Tagging of ammo is the dumbest idea these communist morons have come up with yet.
How 'bout a bill requiring tags on illegal aliens?
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But remember, guns don't vote for liberal socialists, illegal aliens do.
Plus, firing pins can be (and often are) replaced.
Looks like the leftist gun grabbers have realized that they will never be able to outlaw guns entirely. What better way, then, to make sure us common folk remain unarmed than to require procedures that make buying ammunition too expensive.
This is NOT for solving crimes. It is ONLY to raise prices to make self defense less affordable for civilians.
Ten minutes to disassemble, five minutes to polish the firing pin with fine sandpaper, ten minutes to reassemble...
Less than a half hour to overcome, this will work great...
It has the potential to solve some significant crimes in some pretty large numbers, Koretz said
This guy's a time traveler who's returned to save us w/ a simple bit of legislation.
I have conceived a method where the barrel rifling has grooves representing numeric digits of the weapon's serial numbers and as a projectile passes through it, it imprints the groove data on the bullet via varying widths and depths of the rifle grooves. With a 0-9 configuration, the serial number of the weapon could, in effect, be imprinted around the girth of the bullet fired through the barrel.
But, I can't seem to get anyone interested in the concept.
This will only work with NEW guns, not existing ones.
And in other news, California now mandates that all armed robbers wear a name tag and present id at the door.
Coming attractions - death penalty for anyone in possession of a "spare" firing pin.
This is NOT for solving crimes. It is ONLY to raise prices to make self defense less affordable for civilians.
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True. It is pure harassment of the legal, law-abiding citizen. Why don't these moron liberals go after criminals, instead of law-abiders?? Because they don't see criminals as a threat to their miserable butts -- they pander to criminals. Just look at death row in California -- it looks like the Hilton.
"Tagging of ammo is the dumbest idea these communist morons have come up with yet."
Even dumber than banning flash suppressors and elongated pistol grips then claiming it'll stop assault weapon crime?
This is why you never, never, ever, ever vote for a democrat, not even a pro 2A democrat, because every democrat adds to the majority of the body they sit in. When the dems are the majority, we get more gun control.
Gun control is like trying to reduce drunk driving by making it tougher for sober people to own cars.
There's nothing stopping perpetrators of gun violence from doing that now, he said.
That's because there's no motivation for them to seed the crime scene with bogus shells because it's difficult to trace a spent round to a single gun unless (a) that gun was used in a previous crime and its "fingerprints" are on file, or (b) the gun has been recovered and can be tested against evidence.
I'd venture to say that Lizotte is pushing this bill for the benefit of Lizotte, not the public.
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