[DOK]

Our local newpaper has come out in favor of establishing a ballistics database. They indicated it would not require new laws and would not impact the firearms buyer. I suspect that is not the case. Since filing papers that allow trace ability only applies to purchases from dealers, the anti-gun folks would have additional leverage for insisting purchases from individuals also be documented and paper filed. Plus I'm not comfortable that the component barrels for semi-automatics and fire lapping (or even normal wear) would not seriously impact the initial factory "fingerprint". I responded to the editors comments suggesting we needed to know a lot more about the capability and reliability before we spend gazillions of dollars for the usual poor results.

Dan

 

[J Miller]

I am on a list of online polls http://www.Opinionsite.com that come once a week. Todaysquestion was:

A ballistic fingerprint is a signature makring created on bullets once they are fired. Would you vote to pass a law that requires each gun sold to be fired first to record these markings?

Yes : 77%

No : 15%

I'm not sure: 7%

I'm afraid that the sheeple of this country don't have a clue of what is involved in balistics. They have been sold a bill of goods by the Liberal media.

 

[kciH]

This is a joke. Anyone who knows that a barrel can be easily modified, or simply wears from shooting, knows that this is a joke. This is the danger of letting politicians do your thinking with no expert input, as anyone who is a familiar with firearms must be a right wing extremist. I wonder what the ballistic signature of my .340 Weatherby would look like, compared to new, if I fired 3 boxes of factory ammo in 10 would be? Or a .220 swift in a sporter, or any of the modern high velocity rounds. I'm not sure how fast it happens, but youth and ignorance have cost me a barrel or two over the years.

All the FACTS aside, it will most likely happen if it can be made to. It will be another cost passed on to the shooter, but that is least disturbing of all in this scenario. The law will possibly come to pass, and as always, it will be determined to be "not enough". At this stage of the game we will have to register all the firearms to the owner and maintain a further bloated agency to keep track of them all. It will then be a felony to move without notifying the federal government of your intentions, not that the IRS won't find you anyway. You need only understand it is another step in incrementalism that will take us further towards the ultimate goal of some in this country. Let there be no doubt about this FACT.

 

[loader]

We need to focus on crime prevention. Methodically tracking down criminals does not deter them, even a little. It makes us all feel better when they are caught, but I would rather prevent a murder than catch the murderer after the fact.

Fear of immediate apprehension works. Spend the money there.

 

[Old Jim]

I have heard that professional killers that used to discard weapons after a single killing now simply run a cleaning jag with one patch of 220 grit sandpaper through the barrel to completely change the barrels signature. I'm sure there are equally simple methods to change cartrige case and finring pin signatures.

 

[Scott]

Actually the "news" media may have helped us with this one. SOME newspersons did mention various ways that "ballistic" fingerprints could be altered, thereby educating the un-knowing criminals as to how to achieve an altered "fingerprint". The"fingerprint" system will surely be doomed for failure if ever enacted.
Sadly with all of the sensationalism given the "sniper" i'm sure al-qiueda was amazed at the attention and fear that the entire episode caused.Hopefully there won't be terrorists popping up all over the country.
Scott

 

[Contender]

This is right up there with the mythical "Assault Weapon" and "Saturday Night Special" buzz word talking points of the anti-gunners. Now it is "Ballistic Fingerprinting" or "Ballistic DNA".

The only problem is that a gun is a machanical device that is subject to wear and tampering and modification. Try doing that with your own fingerprints or DNA.

Reading the interesting study that California did was very educational. Interesting findings were, among others, that,

1) Different brands of ammunition made different markings in the same gun.

2) Some guns (same brands) gave virtually identical markings.

3) There is a necessity for a human to make a judgement call on the comparitive markings from one case or bullet to another.

4) Increasing the size and scope of the database with thousands more samples will actually "pollute" the system causing a data overload of otherwise non suspect samples with them in turn having to be compared by a technician. To say nothing of the daunting task presented to this technician attempting to sift through this database.

In my state of New York, we instituted such a system 2 years ago (new handguns) which cost over 4 million dollars and puts a number of State Troopers off the streets and in the office administering this system. It takes away precious law enforcement resources for persuit of ghosts.

By the way, not one crime has been solved by use of this system since it was implemented. I guess that is to be expected when only law abiding citizens are the ones who are largley affected by it.

The REAL objective is to slow down the flow of new guns on the market for sale, to add another buracratic hurdle to overcome, to increase the cost of the purchase, to institute defacto registration.

Believe me, there is nothing about crime solving/fighting associated with this subject. It is being SOLD to the public this way however with no intellectual discussion of it's shortcomings/capabilities.

This is the era of symbolism over substance. This is why our politicians from both sides of the aisle are never interested in things that work but are interested in the best PR to associate themselves with.

This is fertile ground for the antis because there isn't 1 in 100 people that really understands this subject or it's technical capabilities or usefulness.

The new gun control battle has started. And we thought we were "homefree" for a while.


Regards

 

[Contender]

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=\Nation\archive\200210\NAT20021029a.html


http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/oct2002/nf20021024_9610.htm

 

[Old Jim]

How about this for a scary thought.
Two disturbed individuals.
No backing, financial or material.
One gun, one used car.
Killed up to 11/12 people, wounded several others.
All this occured while they are operating out of their car with the entire US law enforcement strength looking for them in an area of the country that has some of the most restrictive laws in the US.
Let's face it, these two jokers were dumber than dirt and maybe a little lucky.

Now, what if they were smart and had an organization behind them?