Posted on 01/17/2005 6:33:33 PM PST by TheOtherOne
Edited on 01/18/2005 5:57:13 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
Maryland State Police Report Recommends Suspending Handgun ID System
BALTIMORE (AP) - A law requiring Maryland State Police to collect ballistics information from each handgun sold in the state has not aided a single criminal investigation and should be repealed, a state police report has concluded.
About $2.5 million has been spent on the program so far. Col. Thomas E. Hutchins, the state police superintendent, said he would prefer spending the money on proven crime-fighting techniques.
Maryland was the first state to adopt a ballistic fingerprinting law in April 2000. New York is the only other state to have such a database.
The Maryland law requires gun manufacturers to test-fire handguns and send a spent shell casing from each gun sold in the state to police. The casing's unique markings are entered into a database for future gun tracing.
"The system really is not doing anything," Hutchins said. "The guns that we find at crime scenes may not necessarily be the ones sold in Maryland, so there's nothing to compare it to anyway."
Sanford Abrams, vice president of the Maryland Licensed Firearms Dealers Association, added that the system only leads police to the person who bought the gun, when many guns used in crimes have been stolen.
The report also pointed to shortcomings in how ballistics information is sent to authorities. In one case, a gun dealer test-fired guns, rather than the guns' manufacturer, according to the report.
Gun-control groups favor ballistic fingerprinting systems, saying they are effective crime-fighting tools. Leah Barrett, executive director of CeaseFire Maryland, said state police are not using the database enough.
She said scrapping the state program could deal a setback to better ballistics imaging. "I think it's a real tragedy because other states are looking at New York and Maryland to see how we succeed with this," she said.
AP-ES-01-17-05 2044EST
The Law Of Unintended Consequences. I love it how liberals waste taxpayers' money on a feel good initiative and find out later it doesn't work.
I hope I am correct in assuming that Ceasefire Maryland, the incrementalist gun registration group, is going to reimburse the state's taxpayers for the $2.5 million that has been wasted thusfar.
I suggest that the law works exactly as intended. Not to reduce any crime, rather to hassle the lawful gun owner. The key word was database.
They never are honest about what they really want to do. They always lie to people.
Surely you don't mean that! After all, they care so much for others....
We have pretty much the same garbage law here in NY. Has not solved one crime or been of any use in over 2 years since it was put into effect. Like they are going to find shell casings fired from a revolver at a crime scene among other wishful thinking.
But to the libs, or in my case the RINO Governor, it serves it's purpose to introduce as much red tape and expense as possible for the lawful gun owner.
Just look at Canada, they are hanging on to their boondoggle registry with their fingernails instead of dumping the whole useless system.
Regards
Well, try to look on the bright - a group called "Maryland Shall Issue" is working to restore 2nd Amendment rights to the citizens of that repressive state and here we have the State Police going against the politicos on this program, so it could presage some members of law enforcement there being willing to lend their support. It could be a small crack in the tyranny of one of the most repressive states in the nation.
The only tragedy for the gun grabbers is how other states are looking at MD and seeing what a miserable failure it's been.
www.marylandshallissue.org
Lots of good information for MD freepers
Hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but they *are* seeing how you've succeeded with it.
The very term ballistic "fingerprinting" is BS, because it's not unchangeable. Change the barrel, change the firing pin, or hell, even shoot the gun a lot and the ballistic "fingerprint" will change, thus rendering the database useless. It only serves one purpose, and that is to have yet another database of lawful gun owners.
It is a good site run by serious folks who may be able to help Marylanders. I encourage all Maryland freepers to get in touch with them and help if you can. I am a former Marylander myself, but I travel there several times a year to visit family and it does annoy me that my carry permit is not recognized there. Crime in Maryland's urban areas is through the roof and only bad guys have guns. Funny that state's motto is "The Free State" - 'til I figured out that it means that the STATE is free to do whatever the hell it pleases and the citizens are free to STFU!
Quite correct. Out in California, when they were considering a database, they found that different BRANDS of ammo had different marks on the cases when fired in the same gun.
For Immediate Release
January 20, 2005
Contact:
Jonathan M. Pierce, APR
Pierce Communications
518.427.1186
NEW YORK’S BALLISTIC IMAGING PROGRAM COSTS
TAXPAYERS MILLIONS WITH NO RESULTS;
NEW MARYLAND POLICE STUDY RECOMMENDS
DISBANDING PROGRAM(ALBANY)
Since 2000, New York State has developed and implemented a ballistic imaging database designed to help law enforcement track firearms used in the commission of a crime. Since 2000, New York has wasted approximately $16 million with that program.
New York’s ballistic imaging database, or ballistic fingerprinting program, was designed to assist law enforcement by requiring that a fired bullet and empty cartridge casing from every gun legally sold in the state be submitted to the New York State Police for entry into a vast database.
Theprogram utilizes computer technology to match pre-sale ballistics data with crime scene data. To date, the program has yet to yield any results after thousands of data points have been collected and four years of bureaucracy and wasted effort.
A September 2004 study conducted by the Maryland State Police to review Maryland’s ballistic database program determined that Maryland’s program has been ineffective in assisting law enforcement. In fact, the $5 million Maryland program which contains over 11,000 imaged cartridges, has
only been queried 155 times in four years and has not been responsible for solving any crimes, according to the State Police’s own report.
NYSRPA URGES REPEAL OF BALLISTIC IMAGING PROGRAM
Page 2 of 2
“Governor Pataki told us earlier this week that our state is in a fiscal crisis. New York simply can not afford programs – even well-intentioned programs – which do not work and cost us millions of dollars,” said Tom King,
president of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association (NYSRPA). “New York’s ballistic imaging program costs taxpayers about $4 million a year and has provided no results. Let’s disband that program and spend the money on
health care or education, where it can, hopefully, do some good.”
The ballistic imaging programs fails for two basic reasons:
1. The technology is unproven. Ballistic imaging is not like DNA sampling. Many experts now believe that the “fingerprints” likely change over time, rendering the database useless. Some guns, such as revolvers or single-shot rifles might not leave any ejection marks. In other cases, guns can be easily tampered with prior to the commission of a crime, rendering the multi-million dollar imaging program useless.
2. The guns being used to commit crimes are not the guns which are legally purchased by law-abiding citizens and entered into these databases. Currently, Americans legally own more than 200 million firearms and these have not and will not be entered into the database, thereby rendering the program fruitless.
NYSRPA supports federal efforts recently introduced into congress by Representative Melissa Hart (R-PA) and Senator Zell Miller (D-GA) to study the issues surrounding imaging technology and make recommendations to policymakers and Congress.
“This is another example of a New York law that sounded good at the time, has produced no tangible results other than allowing some politicians to make hay and, worst of all, has cost New Yorkers an estimated $16 million to-date,” said King. “We call on Governor Pataki and the New York State Legislature to repeal this law and use this money to better our State, not burden us.”
The New York State Rifle and Pistol Association represents thousands of New York hunters and sport shooters and seeks to educate all New Yorkers about the safe purchase,
handling, storage and usage of firearms.
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