Microstamping Mania
September 11th, 2007 by Syd
Microstamping Mania
The legislature of the People’s Republik of Kalifornia has sent to the desk of the Governator a bill which will mandate that new semi-automatic handguns sold in Kalifornia after 2010 will have “microstamping” technology. “Microstamping” is a bizarre scheme which supposedly will stamp identifying information such as serial numbers, model of firearm, and probably a good recipe for guacamole on the cartridge case as the gun fires.
The Crime Gun Identification Act would require that all new models of semi-automatic handguns sold in the State of California starting in 2010 be equipped with technology to allow police to match bullet casings found at a crime scene to the handgun that fired the bullets. This technology, known as “microstamping,” consists of engraving microscopic characters representing the make, model and serial number of a handgun onto its firing pin and other internal surfaces. These characters transfer onto the cartridge casing when the handgun is fired.” Source: The Brady Campaign for Criminal Empowerment
Proponents of this ridiculous piece of legislation claim that “microstamping” will enable law enforcement to quickly identify crime guns and arrest evil-doers in record time. Assuming that this far-fetched technology might actually perform as billed, what would law enforcement really get? They would get a serial number trace on the pistol which would show only to whom the pistol was initially sold and perhaps where. And quickly? No, not at all. There is no national database of firearms serial numbers (yet) which could be quickly accessed by law enforcement. Serial numbers are only maintained on paper records at the gun seller’s establishment, so the BATFE still has to go around to dealers, search their records and try to determine where and to whom the gun was last legally sold.
So, what are the obvious problems and weaknesses of “microstamping”
- It only applies to semiautomatic handguns. Revolvers and long guns are not affected by this joke masquerading as legislation;
- Any stamping process can be quickly defeated with a fingernail file in about thirty seconds;
- 275 million firearms already reside in the United States that do not employ “microstamping” technology. The thugs can just use one of those;
- Contrary to the Brady Campaign claims, “microstamping” will not enable law enforcement to quickly identify criminal shooters and arrest them;
- “Microstamping” will add considerable cost to the manufacture of semi-automatic handguns, cost that will be passed on to law-abiding gun owners, making it even more difficult for working-class people to obtain self-defense weapons. The wealthy and the criminal underclass will not be substantially affected;
- The prices of non-microstamping handguns will go up as people come to view them as more desirable than microstamping guns;
- The big losers will be law-abiding gun owners and gun manufacturers trying to comply with Kalifornia’s insane gun regulations;
- The big winners will be gun prohibitionists who falsely claim to be fighting crime and aiding law enforcement while actually only working to disarm law-abiding citizens who are not responsible for violent crime, but who will be the victim of it if their means of self-defense is denied to them.
“Compelling the use of this unreliable patented sole-sourced technology will dramatically reduce the product selection available to law-abiding consumers in California,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel. “Many manufacturers will choose to abandon the California market rather than incur substantial costs associated with complying with microstamping legislation, which would include purchasing (at monopolistic prices) very expensive equipment and patented technology and completely redesigning their manufacturing processes, plant and equipment.” Source: NSSF
There is also the issue of whether microstamping actually works and for how long. Anyone familiar with firearms and shooting knows the tremendous stresses experienced by the working parts of a gun. Rapid wear and the accumulation of powder residue are ever present forces acting upon firearms, and it would seem that these forces would quickly render the microstamping mechanism inoperable. Would the gun then become illegal because “identifying information” has been obliterated? Could a legal gun owner find himself charged with a felony through no fault of his own?
Professor George Krivosta performed detailed testing on the microstamping technology. The Krivosta study showed in actual testing that microstamping technology is deeply flawed. For a PDF of his study with includes photographs of the cartridge stampings, click here.
If the Governator signs this travesty into law, he should resign from the Republican party and renounce his American citizenship, because he will be neither in truth. The majority party of the Kalifornia state legislature should be impeached on the grounds of their continuing jihad to deny the civil rights of the citizens of their troubled state.
Please contact the Governor and respectfully urge him to veto AB1471. Governor Schwarzenegger can be reached by phone at (916) 445-2841, fax at (916) 445-4633, or visit http://gov.ca.gov/interact#email to send him an email.
See also:
California Senate Passes Microstamping Despite ‘Flawed’ Technology
There is a law in California, and I cannot find the citation now, that prohibits the removal or defacing of any number or identifying mark on a firearm. The statute goes on to say that if the mark is illegible it is prima facie evidence of the violation of the statute. Of course if you’re already a felon and carrying illegally, you don’t care that the last 500 rounds obliterated the engraving on the little tip of the firing pin, but if you are an otherwise law-abiding citizen, the discovery that you have violated this law through the use of 500 cartridges will come as an awful shock. And then as a convicted felon you don’t have the right to keep and bear arms any more.
It is more legislative insanity by the gun grabbers in Sacramento; why don’t they just come out and publicly announce their true intentions? If they came out and said, “we simply want to stop the sale of any new handguns in the State of California,” then I’d respect that and maybe they would be easily defeated in the next election. Unfortunately, our representatives in the State Senate and Assembly understand that, and like the terrorists and their threats of death by a thousand cuts, no one will notice as they bleed us dry and try to legislate away The People’s right to keep and bear arms. They are infringing, plain and simple. Why don’t we take this to the United States Supreme Court? Infringement is infringement. They are entering, by gradual steps or by stealth, into the rights of another, namely us. Don’t let them. Write them, call them…piss, moan, and otherwise make their political lives a living hell. They have it too easy…it’s time we tell them how we want them to behave, ‘cuz I’m sick of the tail wagging the dog.