Posted on 04/30/2009 1:33:36 PM PDT by neverdem
Bill awaits Senate action to help trace pistols; opponents question cost, effectiveness
ALBANY As the state Assembly passes a number of gun control measures, members of the newly Democratic state Senate joined gun control advocates to push for a proposal to mandate "microstamping" on semiautomatic pistols sold in the state. "This is a tough-on-crime, smart-on-crime proposal," said Sen. Eric Schneiderman, D-New York City, who is shepherding the measure through the Senate.
The plan, originally put forth by Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel, D-Great Neck, already passed in the lower house, where Democrats hold a 109-to-41 majority.
But with the Senate this year under a new 32-to-30 Democratic majority, advocates are hoping microstamping and other gun measures will pass there as well.
Microstamping is a process in which lasers put a distinctive mark on a weapon's firing pin. That mark is then etched into each cartridge casing when the gun is fired. Supporters including police and prosecutors say it could help them better match shell casings to a given weapon.
But the plan has opponents too, including representatives of gun manufacturers who question whether the stamps couldn't be tampered with by criminals.
Others say they fear it would add to the cost of weapons, although proponents say microstamping would add a few dollars at most.
Either way, some of the upstate-downstate divisions on this issue were on display at the Capitol on Wednesday.
Shortly after the news conference promoting microstamping, gun enthusiasts including many from upstate gathered at the Capitol to lobby lawmakers against enacting the proposal.
The Schneiderman-Schimel proposal would mandate microstamping for handguns made after Jan. 1, 2011.
California has passed a similar law that takes effect in 2010.
Rick Karlin can be reached at (518) 454-5758 or rkarlin@timesunion.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
this is absurn some guns are known for having pins that break.
Spare pins are like spare springs.
What next, a seperate license for each tire on your automobile?
Pencil sharpener carbon foot print tax?
It is always interesting that those who want to tax the most fear the second amendment the most.
Pathetically Stupid.
Patently Offensive.
And, at the same time, chillingly frightening.
These gasbags won’t stop until they are made, physically, to stop, IMO.
It’s time to take back the country.
We need to micrstamp every bic pen! Words can cause riots after all!
you would deny guns to the very people charged with seeking out and stopping these criminals.
to my knowledge, no police officer has ever written or voted to pass a piece of legislation. hamstringing cops is no solution to the idiocy of bureaucrats.
innocent people being unable to defend themselves from criminals is another issue. let's deal with that.
No, my logic is perfectly sound. If certain firearms are so dangerous that the public shouldn’t be allowed to have them, the government doesn’t need them either for the same reason.
How is this more effective than the serial numbers that are already on the gun? Those numbers can be filed off and can still be recovered from the pressure patterns made in the metal by the stamping.
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IMHO, there's too much that we don't know, and there's too much fear mongering on both sides of the political spectrum. Imagine the independents and moderates. They must be going dizzy!
FReepmail me if you want on or off my New York ping list.
A sawed-off and filed-down drill bit makes an excellent firing pin for many pistols.
I can't imagine what their strategy sessions are like now. They move to the right on gun control and abortion with their candidates for the Senate and the House for the 2006 and 2008 elections.
Now, they get Snarlin' Arlen to defect because the GOP is too beholden to social conservatives, and they are demonizing veterans and all kinds of conservatives in Dept. of Homeland Security documents.
Their contradictions are simply amazing.
You said
“innocent people being unable to defend themselves from criminals is another issue. let’s deal with that.”
If microstamping adds too much to the price of firearms, then more citizens will not be able to afford to buy them. This would then cause firearm manufacturers to lose sales, and if enacted nationally, many of them could go out of business.
Stopping firearm sales to government entities in New York would put pressure on them to rescind the microstamping law (if it is enacted).
It’s a very dangerous time, when ‘rat overconfidence and total political control could lead them to make a very bad miscalculation.
They can pass all the laws the want, but at some point, hell will break loose.
We’ve got to fight this with every ounce of strength we can muster. That and dollars in the right places, NRA, GOA, SAF, NYSRPA etc. NY is about to go down the tubes in more ways than one.
BLOAT like never before!
Can some one please tell me why most of the major firearms manufacturers are still located in the NorthEast? The most liberal anti-gun area in this country. Don’t tell me the 5th and 6th generation employee doesn’t want to move. Anyone with any sense would tell them the same salary in a more gun friendly area (the South) would go farther with lower taxes, lower living costs, and your product will be well liked. If they don’t want to move, leave them. Plenty of people down south can do the same job just as well.
And these manufacturers pay taxes in the NE states and sell weapons to these people. PLEASE TELL ME WHY THEY STAY UP NORTH???
That's what they want you to do. They WANT as many legal gun owners to perform an illegal act.
The book "Atlas Shrugged" had a relevant passage:
Did you really think we want those laws observed? said Dr. Ferris. We want them to be broken. Youd better get it straight that its not a bunch of boy scouts youre up against... Were after power and we mean it... Theres no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there arent enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? Whats there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted and you create a nation of law-breakers and then you cash in on guilt. Now thats the system, Mr. Reardon, thats the game, and once you understand it, youll be much easier to deal with.Once you've filed down the microstamping, all it takes is one surprise police inspection, either because of a "domestic violence" incident, or some other excuse for police to get a warrent to search your home for your guns. Then when they find that you've illegally filed off the microstamping, then they can arrest and jail you without having to prove anything further.Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged 1957
(Almost dead) Tradition?
The oldest(and once greatest) gun shop in the US is still located in the heart of Manhattan.
I'm not that old and I still remember all the ranges around the city that are now gone. Before my time, people would bring guns to the office and go shooting after work.
Now everyone gasps and cowers if I dare mention guns. I feel like I'm the only real man left surrounded by a sea of weenies.
How times have changed...
I always recommend that you purchase a spare for the firing pin and one of each of every spring your weapon uses. Pistol, long gun, all of them.
The company I work for is headquartered in MA. You should see the looks we get when the wife and I go through and talk somehow gets to the the CCW license we both have. You would think the end times have come. Of course one of the office workers (#3or4 in the company) has a CCW from MA. How in the world did that happened I couldnt tell you!! (POLITICS)
You are right, so many weenies and so few men (or women) today. I wonder how much longer we will last.
As for all those companies staying up North, well I guess tradition beats saving money every time. I cant see WHY they stay. But tradition can be strong I guess.
I hate this state.
The only goal of the leftist aka progressive gun hater is to ban the right to bear arms.
The recent SC ruling has stopped gun bans right now.
So now the leftist aka progressive gun haters will be to cost the gun owner more and more money to exercise that right.
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