Bullet Microstamping
By Suki Kott on Monday 23 June 2008, 01:39 - Law Enforcement - Permalink
San
Francisco PBS station KQED recently ran a report on the
regulation that will require all guns sold in California to employ bullet
microstamping technology. Each firearm will have a specially marked firing pin
that will imprint a code on the bullet casing at the time of firing. While the
NRA is up in arms with this, the only drawback presented in the report is that
of incomplete stamping if the firing pin gets worn or damaged.
A question I have that the report didn't address: How easy is it to swap out the firing pin? Crime novel writers take note -- this could be an interesting plot resolution.
Comments
...and lets not forget that revolvers do not eject spent shells, making this stamping of little value.
@Aaron You make an interesting point -- I don't know enough about handguns to know that. Another reader pointed out that, provided enough time, any spent shells could be picked up and tossed out.