Terminator guns were exempted.
Posted on 05/16/2008 4:55:29 AM PDT by Brilliant
New technology to link cartridge cases to guns by engraving microscopic codes on the firing pin is feasible, but did not work equally well for all guns and ammunition tested in a pilot study by researchers from the forensic science program at the University of California, Davis. More testing in a wider range of firearms is needed, the researchers said.
Microstamping technology uses a laser to cut a pattern or code into the head of a firing pin or another internal surface. The method is similar to that used to engrave codes on computer chips. When the trigger is pulled, the firing pin hits the cartridge case or primer and stamps the code onto it. In principle, the spent cartridge can then be matched to a specific gun.
In October 2007, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law AB 1471, requiring that all new models of semiautomatic pistols sold in California on or after Jan. 1, 2010, be engraved in two or more places with an identifying code that is transferred to the cartridge case on firing. Similar legislation has been proposed in other states and at the federal level.
In March 2008, a report from the National Research Council, part of the National Academies of Science, described microstamping as a "promising" approach and called for more in-depth studies on the durability of microstamped marks under different firing conditions.
"Our study confirms the NRC position that more research should be conducted on this technology," said Fred Tulleners, director of the forensic science graduate program at UC Davis. Tulleners is former director of the California Department of Justice crime labs in Sacramento and Santa Rosa.
If successfully implemented, microstamping would be one additional piece of evidence for investigators to link various shooting events, Tulleners said.
UC Davis graduate student Michael Beddow looked at the performance of microstamped marks in one location, the firing pin. He tested firing pins from six different brands of semi-automatic handguns, two semi-automatic rifles and a shotgun. The firing pins were engraved with three different types of code: a letter/number code on the face of the firing pin; a pattern of dots or gears around the pin; and a radial bar code down the side of the pin. The engraved firing pins were purchased from ID Dynamics of Londonderry, N.H.
To test the effects of repeated firing, Beddow fitted engraved firing pins into six Smith and Wesson .40-caliber handguns that were issued to California Highway Patrol cadets for use in weapons training. After firing about 2,500 rounds, the letter/number codes on the face of the firing pins were still legible with some signs of wear. But the bar codes and dot codes around the edge of the pins were badly worn.
"They were hammered flat," Beddow said.
Tests on other guns, including .22-, .380- and .40-caliber handguns, two semi-automatic rifles and a pump-action shotgun, showed a wide range of results depending on the weapon, the ammunition used and the type of code examined, Beddow found. Generally, the letter/number codes on the face of the firing pin and the gear codes transferred well to cartridge cases, but the bar codes on the sides of the firing pin performed more poorly. Microstamping worked particularly poorly for the one rimfire handgun tested.
The researchers did not have access to patented information allowing them to read the bar- or gear-codes, and so could not determine if these remained legible enough to be useful.
Codes engraved on the face of the firing pin could easily be removed with household tools, Beddow found.
The researchers estimated that setting up a facility to engrave alphanumeric codes on firing pins would cost about $7 to $8 per firing pin in the first year, assuming that such marks would be required on all handguns sold in California, and based on the efficiencies associated with high-volume production costs, Tulleners said.
Tulleners said that a larger test of about 3,000 firing pins, from a wider range of guns, would allow for a more "real-world" test of the technology, as called for by the National Research Council report. About 2,000 makes and models of handguns are sold in California, compared with the nine tested, Beddow estimated in the study. A larger study would also help show how useful this technology might be in detecting and preventing crime.
AB1471 also requires at least one other internal location for microstamping a number. Microstamping on areas other than the firing pin was not tested in this study. Based on the study's preliminary results with a .22-caliber pistol, where the code on the firing pin was transferred to the brass of the cartridge rather than the softer primer, the effectiveness of such a requirement needs further assessment, Tulleners said.
David Howitt, professor of chemical engineering and materials science at UC Davis, supervised the project.
The study was funded by a grant from the California Policy Research Center, part of the University of California Office of the President. The report has completed peer review by experts selected by the center, and a paper describing the results has been accepted and scheduled for publication in an upcoming issue of the Association of Firearm and Toolmark Examiners (AFTE) Journal.
UC Davis offers a research-based master's degree in forensic science administered as a self-supporting program through UC Davis Extension. Courses are taught by an interdisciplinary group of UC Davis faculty and outside experts. The program currently has an enrollment of about 70 students.
On the other hand, they don't seem to be pushing it too hard.
Terminator guns were exempted.
It’s about the money.
The company that holds the patent is giving heavily to the D’s.
Why are you so surprised? Registration of ammunition is just one giant step towards the real objective of registering firearms.
Its purpose is to make gun ownership such a hassle to keep in compliance with a myriad of laws, and such a risk of becoming a felon by accident or oversight, that people just quit buying or owning them.
The first quote on my FR profile page applies here.
“Did you really think we want those laws observed?” said Dr. Ferris. “We want them to be broken. You’d better get it straight that it’s not a bunch of boy scouts you’re up against... We’re after power and we mean it... There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that’s the system, Mr. Reardon, that’s the game, and once you understand it, you’ll be much easier to deal with.”
- Ayn Rand, ‘Atlas Shrugged’ 1957
The law is designed to make guns more expensive or even unavailable if industry is unable to comply with the micro stamping requirement. It’s gun control by other means.
I suspect that if they have that microstamp, they could track the firearm anyway, without registration, thru the dealer network, assuming that it was not transferred illegally, or thru a private transaction.
I don’t have any problem with gun regulations that only impact criminals. The real challenge, though, is to actually put the thugs in jail once you’ve caught them. If you’re not going to do that, then what’s the point of the microstamp?
“More testing in a wider range of firearms is needed, the researchers said.”
Why am I not surprised?
When files are outlawed, only criminals will have .....
Nothing to see here. Move along. Taggants and stamping have been floated since the 1970s. Libs support it because a working system doesn’t exist yet, and won’t by the deadline set of 2010. Can’t make the deadline? Can’t keep your guns. However...
“More testing in a wider range of firearms is needed, the researchers said.” Translation: “We’ll keep flogging this dead horse until we get the results we want.”
Haven’t they ever heard of changing out the firing pin?
Or even (gosh forbid) keeping a few hundred unstamped ones around for “customizing” weapons?
Only the law abiding will be affected - which is likely the very reason this is under consideration. Darn that stoopid old second amendment thingy, anyway!!!
I suggest we micro-stamp CO2 emissions, that way we can fine/imprison polluters, (how do we punish Mount Vesuvius?).
The lack of logic in this exercise amazes me. As if criminals go to teh local gun shop and legally purchase a roscoe, then run out and use it in a crime.
If the study indicates that these markings either wear out rapidly (I shoot approx. 10k rounds per year out of two combat handguns) or can be easily removed (but not easily checked), what value?
When, in the course of human events....
God Bless
Molon Labe
“Haven’t they ever heard of changing out the firing pin?”
That would be an easy thing to do, but one thing you notice is that criminals tend to be rather stupid.
My point is that the law would be completely ineffective at preventing circumvention by the very nature of firearms. The proponents are moving in for a rhetorical kill that is simply the setup to eventual confiscation - after all, if the other laws didn’t work, then perhaps taking away the gun WOULD!
What value, indeed. Here’s the kicker:
“The researchers did not have access to patented information allowing them to read the bar- or gear-codes, and so could not determine if these remained legible enough to be useful.”
In other words, all that came before was a waste of time, and a shameful waste of printer paper. Meaningless. Why then even bother publishing these “findings” when there were none?
You’re right and ammo costs a lot more than before already. The international demand for raw materials has caused ammo prices to double from 5 years ago.
Just buff the end of the firing pin with some 400 grit emery cloth and the problem is solved.
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