[sharktrager]

Stupid plan. All a criminal has to do is either scrape the barrel enough to change the signature, or change the barrel.

You could swap barrels on a pair of rifles, and sell one at a pawn shop using a fake name. The unsuspecting buyer would find the FBI on his doorstep after they matched the bullets, and the seller of the gun could be untraceable, because he could use a false name and address, and the time from pawning to sale would be long enough that the pawn shop would have little or no memory of who sold it.

[Centurion2000]

Stupid plan. All a criminal has to do is either scrape the barrel enough to change the signature, or change the barrel

Every time you punch the bore with a wire brush the fingerprint will change.

You can generally fingerprint a handgun. Going on what I have learned, the rifle round's velocity and rotation speed will usually destroy the bullet enough that it can't be matched. Exception : solids designed for big game generally do not come apart.
The way around this ? Use ultra-light ultra velocity hollow points on a barrel with a fast twist.

[harpseal]

They know it will not work to solkve crime but they think they can put through national gun registration in this disguise. Look at what happened with the instant background check records and the fuss they made of ashcrof's decision to cut the number of days they are kept. The Nazis like Schummer Scummer and Kennedy were complaining about records going away according to the text of the law. Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown

[aristeides]

Article doesn't mention how easy it is to change the signature. I guess the news department at the WSJ is showing us what its agenda is.

[RogueIsland]

Stupid plan.

Not if the real goal is universal registration. Then it's a brilliant plan. Never underestimate the deviousness of the anti-rights fascists.