Posted on 10/22/2002 11:37:40 PM PDT by kattracks
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Microscopic clues on bullets and fragments have allowed investigators to link shootings carried out by a deadly sniper terrorizing the Washington area, but authorities are still trying to pinpoint the gun used.
Ballistics evidence in 10 of the cases revealed that a .223 caliber bullet was fired from the same rifle, said Joseph Green, spokesman for the Treasury Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Bullets were too damaged to be helpful in two cases, and results are still pending from an attack Tuesday morning.
If the latest attack is confirmed, the sniper will have killed 10 people and critically wounded three others in Maryland, Virginia and Washington since Oct. 2.
In Tuesday's attack, a bus driver was shot in the chest and killed in Aspen Hill, Md., 15 miles from downtown Washington. A police task force was investigating as if the shooting was related to the serial sniper.
Green said any ballistics evidence recovered from the victim or at the crime scene would be analyzed by firearms experts at ATF's lab in Rockville, Md.
Narrowing down the exact make and model of the gun used is tricky. "Upwards of 100 different rifles" use that ammunition, said ATF spokesman Jim Crandall. All kinds of rifles use a .223 caliber bullet, including guns used in sporting activities, military weapons and some "assault type of weapons," Crandall said.
Every firearm has individual characteristics that are as unique to it as fingerprints are to human beings, ATF says.
However, an ATF database that helps firearm examiners match ballistics evidence contains only images of casings or bullets from crime scenes or from test firings of weapons used in crimes. It doesn't include images of every gun sold in the United States, so a gun that hasn't been used in a previous crime isn't included in the computer database.
Firearms examiners analyze microscopic scratches and dents -- on the bullets, their fragments or cartridge casings -- to try to determine whether they were fired from the same weapon.
Grooves inside the barrel of a gun help a bullet travel with precision. When a bullet is fired, these grooves and other unique characteristics are imprinted on the bullet. When a bullet or bullet fragment is recovered from a crime, it is examined to see if a pattern of grooves and "lands" -- the distance between the grooves ---- can help determine the type of firearm that was used. Examiners also weigh the bullet or bullet fragments to try to identify the caliber and type of firearm.
Bullet casings also can have distinctive markings created by the gun's firing pin, ejector and breech mechanism ---- the place where the bullet sits in the barrel of the gun. Sometimes a fragment can be too small, making any markings all but impossible to divine.
Other factors make work difficult for firearms examiners.
"Factors related to uniqueness that can complicate the identification process include the presence of `subclass characteristics,' or markings, common to groups of firearms or ammunition, that can be mistaken by machine or examiner for markings individual to a firearm," ATF said in a May 13 report.
It is possible for a person, using a file or some other object, to try and alter a firearm so that the bullets and cartridge casings fired from it would have a different appearance, ATF said. While that wouldn't be difficult or time-consuming, such instances of this occurring in actual casework are exceedingly rare, the ATF report said.
"Because of the microscopic character of the changes, it is not possible to alter one firearm in order to make the imprint look like another," the ATF report said. "Rather, the idea of altering a firearm would be to prevent a definitive identification by creating additional markings for examiners or automated equipment to read."
In some cases, the buildup of dirt and debris can have "minor impact on the markings made on ammunitions, though this does not necessarily lessen the markings and can in fact magnify them," the report said.
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On the Net:
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms: http://www.atf.treas.gov/
Copyright 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Using a pistol would certainly facilitate the sniper's disappearing quickly after each shooting, and these weapons would account for the lack of brass found at the crime scenes. Moreover, they are plenty accurate enough at the ranges the sniper has fired from, particularly if the sniper is using a scope or laser sight.
It makes sense since a field-stripped pistol is easy to hide.
My thoughts exactly. Criminals already do everything they can in order to avoid having guns traced to them, and this would just be one more thing (again assuming that they will be stupid enough to use a gun that they had purchased from a law-abiding FFL - which is doubtful).
I would even go further. Every gun owner with whom I have discussed this issue has stated to me in no uncertain terms that if any or all of their guns are subjected to a ballistic snapshot ("BS"), they will immediately thereafter obtain new barrels, firing pins, extractors, ejectors and anything else that will alter the BS of a gun. Alternatively, they all plan to use the guns plenty, and clean them plenty, immediately after the BS is done. Dremel tools were mentioned a lot. What is the reason for these statements? Well, plain orneriness (is that a word?), as well as the very practical concern that if one of their guns is stolen and then used in a crime, the first person that the cops will approach is them. Not wanting that kind of unpleasant and unjustified attention, they'll do whatever they can to avoid it. I will do the same, and for both reasons (I am the kind that buys some guns simply because some blowhard gov't type doesn't want me to). I think that everyone of us should, in the event that a national BS registry is created, encourage every gun owner we know to "polish their liberty teeth," just to F#$% with the system.
Something else to consider: the process of BSing a gun could actually make it MORE difficult to catch a criminal. Someone intent on committing a crime could purchase and install a new barrel on the crime weapon, use the new barrel in the crime, and after the crime throw the new barrel into the ocean or a deep lake and reinstall the old barrel (this is particularly easy in semi-auto pistols, and merely a bit difficult in guns with non-drop-in barrels). The police in that case will be looking for a particular BS signature, and if they pick up the perp and his gun, will release him if the BS is the only evidence. Alternatively, the perp's attorney will really make hash of the prosecution's case if the BS doesn't match ("Members of the jury, this is a simple case of mistaken identity - the police picked up someone with the same general description and the same make and model of gun, but my client couldn't have fired the shots in question, as the BS proves). Not only that, but scarce police resources that could otherwise be devoted to solving crimes will be devoted to creating and updating a less than useless database.
Then there is the problem of the 250 million+ guns that are already out there, many of which the gov't doesn't know exist (think war trophies, pre-Form 4473 guns, illegal imports) - to say the least, the database will be woefully incomplete (esp. if the dolts only BS new guns).
All in all, a horrible idea.
By the way, the media are giving this all the exposure of an Al Queda Cell at work. My bet is that these are some buddies of the earlier bombers of the TTT. After all, was there not alot of target practise arond Lakawanaand was not George Tennet very nervous lately.
Think for yourselves as the Government and local enforcement have no current interest in fessing up to it directly.
For a short period of time, perhaps, as long as nothing has been changed, maybe. You can change the upper of an AR-15, with all unregistered parts and different barrel, in 30 seconds. Then you re-zero the weapon's sights.
If they can match the fired bullets to a particular gun, they can also determine the twist rate of the barrel used. This will help to possibly eliminate some of the cartridges as they traditionally don't feature that twist rate to fire a certain weight bullet well. But they haven't stated the twist rate, type and weight of bullet used to my knowledge.
The most likely outcome of such a ballistic fingerprinting system is the conviction of innocent gun owners whose official fingerprint is a false positive.
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