Effective Immediately: All Semi-Automatic Pistols Sold In California to Require “Micro Stamp”

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Effective Immediately: All Semi-Automatic Pistols Sold In California to Require “Micro Stamp” Ballistic Identification


May 20, 2013


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Mac Slavo
Shftplan

In a controversial move that some believe will essentially lead
to a de facto ban on semi-automatic handguns, Attorney General Kamala
Harris announced that, effective immediately, all new semi-automatic
firearms sold in the State of California will require a unique
microstamp on every shell ejected when a gun is fired.

Microstamping, or ballistic imprinting, is a technology patented in
the 1990′s by engineer and NRA member Todd Lizotte. When a gun is fired,
a tiny engraving on the firing pin etches a microscopic identifier onto
the cartridge as it is expended by the firearm.

The law, which requires every semi automatic gun sold in the state to
imprint the gun’s serial number on the cartridge, was signed into law
by former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2007 and was delayed due to patent stipulationsin the legislation.

<blockquote>
The legislation specified that it would take effect only when the technology was available and all private patents had expired.

But at a Los Angeles news conference Friday, Harris announced that micro-stamping had cleared all technological and patenting hurdles and would be required on newly sold semiautomatics, effective immediately.

“The patents have been cleared, which means that this very important
technology will help us as law enforcement in identifying and locating
people who have illegally used firearms,” Harris said.

</blockquote>
According to proponents of the legislation, ballistic micro-stamping
will help law enforcement investigators track down firearms used in the
commission of crimes:

<blockquote>
Attorney Benjamin Van Houten of San Francisco’s Law Center to Prevent
Gun Violence said the announcement should send a message to other
states, the Obama administration and the gun industry that “this is the future and it’s really critical to helping law enforcement solve gun crimes.”

Implementation of micro-stamping “moves California to the forefront
of the nation in combatting gun crime,” said the law’s author, former
Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles, who attended the news conference
and is running for city attorney.

</blockquote>
It’s not clear exactly how a firearm that has been illegally purchased, such as through straw buyers who purchased semi-automatic rifles to Mexican drug cartels
from federal agents in Operation Fast and Furious, could help track
down criminals using untraceable guns in the commission of a crime.

In addition to being ineffective in tracking gun crimes, NRA
attorney C.D. Michel suggests that with firearm sales across the country
already puttingoverwhelming demand on gun manufacturers, the new California law could lead to widespread shortages of handguns in the state:

<blockquote>
“This is not going to help solve crimes,” he said. “It’s
easily defeated, easily wears out and can be used to lead police down
false alleys” if the serial numbers are altered.

Worse yet, Michel said, manufacturers will be unwilling to add this
expensive feature to guns sold in a single state, and will instead keep
manufacturing weapons for the other states, where demand already far
exceeds supply.

The effect, he said, would be a ban on new semiautomatic handguns in California, which the NRA will challenge in court.


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</blockquote>

Sounds pretty easy to defeat. Remove firing pin, using very fine grit sandpaper [600-1500 grit] remove said engraving, use a buffing wheel to polish pin and install back into the weapon.