[John123]

I agree with you here... I think some of the posters have completely lost the main point here... there is a wacko wandering around with a gun killing young girls... the police search only involves a narrow range... a specific caliber gun.

I really don't see the problem here...

[sam_paine]

I think some of the posters have completely lost the main point here... there is a wacko wandering around with a gun killing young girls...

THEN WHY are the police wasting valuable time harassing local law-abiding citizens rather than trying to pursue meaningful leads?

No. These cops are using this as a diversion to make it look like they're doing something (to placate people like you two who just want to see action NOW and will never check back to see about results), knowing that they won't actually have to apprehend a dangerous murderer...and still get to pursue their SAFE pet peeve of lording over their authoritarianism against local law-abiding 'free' citizens.

[misterrob]

Some crimes inflame the passions of people in a way that the LEOs are asked to solve the crime. An 11 year old and a 13 year old were executed on a remote road. They should be as thorough as possible in their investigation while not engaging in illegal searches or detentions of people.

[MartinStyles]

A big problem is, do you trust the ‘ballistic fingerprint’ voodoo enough to risk it? I don’t..

How about if they just force every male in a city to undergo DNA testing after any rape? At least that’s accurate, and about as ‘fair’.

[DBrow]

“I really don't see the problem here... “

If it were a kitchen knife, could they go door to door asking people to have their knives tested for blood? Their hands, while they are at it?

Or maybe, like the Skakel case (I think), if the weapon were a golf club, then you could ask everyone who has a three iron to come on down to the station.

To make people a suspect because they legally own something is a little off. And asking for a ballistic test is making you a suspect.

One thing that's upsetting is the gun registration angle, which most FReepers dislike. If we had centralized registration, this would happen lots more often. They went knocking doors of AR15 owners during the Maryland sniper case until someone videotaped their interaction with the authorities.

If the police showed up at your door asking to see your gun “just for some testing”, would you comply without considering the risk you are taking?

Ballistic “fingerprinting” accuracy is way overblown, they could easily get a hit on your .40. How many times have they tested James Earl Ray's gun, and arrived at different conclusions? Now you are a murder suspect because some tech sees unique identifiers in your gun barrel, or on the ejected rounds, because you volunteered and in so doing waived some rights and guarantees.