Posted on 10/18/2002 5:00:21 AM PDT by JackIV
How Reliable Is Ballistic Fingerprinting? Friday, October 18, 2002 By Steven Milloy
The sniper spree in the Washington, D.C., area has spawned calls for "ballistic fingerprinting" of firearms.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., announced he would introduce legislation for a national program. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence told The Washington Post that ballistic fingerprinting would have "solved this crime after the first shooting."
But an October 2001 report by California state ballistics experts -- hushed up by the California attorney general's office -- concludes that ballistic fingerprinting isn't feasible right now.
Ballistic fingerprinting involves sending a fired bullet and empty cartridge casing from a gun to a government agency before that gun can be sold. The idea is to match -- preferably by automated computer analysis -- pre-sale ballistics data with crime scene data.
Maryland and New York already require ballistic fingerprinting. So far it hasn't helped convict a single criminal in Maryland despite "fingerprinting" 17,000 guns sold since January 2000. New York hasn't had success either.
And there isn't likely to be success any time soon, according to the study.
The report included the test firing of more than 2,000 rounds from 790 pistols.
When cartridges from the same manufacturer were test-fired and compared, computer matching failed 38 percent of the time. With cartridges from different manufacturers, computer matching failed 62 percent of the time.
"Automated computer matching systems do not provide conclusive results" requiring that "potential candidates be manually reviewed," said the experts.
But the experts estimated a California database would grow by about 108,000 entries every year for pistols alone. "This study indicates that this number of candidate cases will be so large as to be impractical and will likely create logistic complications so great that they cannot be effectively addressed," they said.
The test-firing results only scratch the surface of ballistic fingerprinting's problems.
The experts concluded it's unknown whether cartridges fired after typical firearm break-in and wear can at all be matched to the cartridge fired when the gun was new.
"Firearms that generate markings on cartridge casings can change with use and can also be readily altered by the users," said the experts. "They are not permanently defined like fingerprints or DNA."
A file may be used to make scratch marks in a barrel or a breech face, and various parts may be replaced to give a firearm a completely new ballistic identity. Bullets may be treated to alter the machining marks in a barrel.
Not all guns even generate markings on cartridge casings.
Further, "fired cartridge casings are much easier to correlate than fired bullets," noted the experts. Because bullets are severely damaged on impact, they can only be examined manually.
Moreover, Americans already own more than 200 million guns; those won't be included in any ballistics database.
rest of story at: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,66007,00.html
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
There has not been ONE crime solved, or a conviction, in which a firearm was used and "fingerprinting" was used. Yet, another "feel good" law that does NOTHING. We don't even need a firearm to protect ourselves....the DC Police just tell you to walk briskly, and zig zag. I am at a loss for words. AND SHEEPLE BELIEVE THIS!!
The Brady Borg does not care if the process works to combat crime. They are looking for ANY backdoor method to create a national gun registry.
In fact, to the Brady Borg, it's probably better if a program is worthless, because then they can come back next year and state that ballistic fingerprinting simply isn't enough to stop gun crime, we need to get all guns registered. And when that doesn't stop gun crime, they'll come back the next year and say we need to confiscate registered handguns. And when that doesn't stop gun crime and then some whackjob uses a hunting rifle to kill a couple of schoolkids, they'll come back the next year and say we need to take all hunting weapons and store them at gun clubs. And so it goes, ad infinitum.
That is why Brady Borg proposals never make sense. They're not supposed to...
Someone pulled up an article the other day that said if you just change to another ammo supplier, all testing is irrelivant. Everything changes.
opps.
And arm yourself with a pen and paper! In other words, keep an eye out for dead people, and write down information to protect yourself.
Anti-gin? You mean they're against martinis too?
There was a poll on CNN yesterday. "Do you feel safer now than you did before 9/11?"
Most voted "no." And they're dumb Democrats, too.
I think people are still frightened, and those soccer moms and honest citizens who armed themselves after 9/11 felt the need for it. I really don't think they're ready to trust the government to protect them. Look at the DC shooter, for example. I'll bet those who own self defence weapons bought fresh ammo, just in case.
They're going for finger printing because disarming wouldn't work in this country right now. I hope it backfires at the polls.
The ballistic registry may be the holy grail of the gun grabbers, precisely because it is flawed. I think they'll try to keep the problems downplayed until the program is in place. Once the database is established, then they'll bring up the issues with potential changes in the ballistic fingerprint due to wear, maintenance, or intentional alteration. The solution will be to have the guns re-tested at intervals to keep the database current, at the owner's expense. Their strategy is to get around the second amendment by simply making gun ownership too expensive and troublesome for the average person.
Exactly. So, behind the political spin, how many citizens would be willing to be disarmed, or have their ability to arm themselves be taken away.
Right now, I think maybe the Dems are spinning their own hanging rope. Let's hope so.
OK everybody, listen up, because I'm only going to say this once (today):
This is not about evidence, or courts of law,
nor is it about 'ballistic fingerprinting' -
it is ONLY about creating a national database of gunowners!
Having failed miserably in their previous efforts at gun registration, the Brady Bunch is trying another tack.
I just hope they convince a few of their lapdog dimocrats to use this as a campaign issue!
We need something to galvanize gunowners and get them ALL out to vote.
The 2000 election ( for the right wing) was aided by the Democrats and their anti-arms propaganda. The gun issue may have won us the election.
Now after 9/11, how many more have joined our side on this issue? The "self-defence" issue is on our side. Terrorists could be living right next door.
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