It is one of those things that sounds great in theory but fails in the real world. That hasn't stopped states like California from adopting it or New York from strongly considering it.
The New York Times published an article online today entitled "New Method to Track Gun Use Stalled by Foes." It will appear in the print edition tomorrow. The article describes the technology, the opposition to it by gun rights groups, and some of the studies done on its efficacy.
Its inventor, Todd Lizotte, who claims to be pro-Second Amendment and a member of the NRA had wanted his patent on the process to lapse into the public domain. The patent issue is critical for it to go into operation in California. He and his backers just didn't figure in the tech industry savvy of the CalGuns Foundations whose officers know a thing or two about patents.
In California, legislation signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2007 has been held up while the attorney general’s office makes sure the technology is unencumbered by patents. A gun rights group, the Calguns Foundation, went so far as to pay a $555 fee to extend a lapsing patent held by the developer to further delay the law from taking effect.For the cost of two hours (or less) of a good attorney, the CalGuns Foundation has stymied the law's implementation by keeping the patent in force.What an absolutely brilliant move! Gene Hoffman and his group are the masters of strategy and guerrilla tactics and this is just one more example of it.
“It was a lot cheaper to keep the patent in force than to litigate over the issues,” said Gene Hoffman, the chairman of the foundation, adding that he believed the law amounted to a gun ban in California.
H/T Brandon Combs
The main reason it won't work is that, to be small enough to fit on the tip of a firing pin, the engraving will have to be so small that it will wear off very quickly, given that it's on a surface that hits something every time the gun is fired.
ReplyDeleteOf course this also means that a Bad Guy(tm) would be able to remove the micro-engraving with a single stroke of a file.
And the main reason many oppose it is that it would add one hundred dollars or more to the cost of each gun.
Two reasons actually, there are ~400 million guns in the US that are not now "microstamped" and a Transnational Progressive Enclave like the PRC would immediately declare all those guns "unsafe" and demand they be turned in. No manufacturer is going to willingly spend the millions to modify their production lines to build guns that nobody wants for a limited market.
ReplyDeleteThe whole scam is just a ruse for some more back door gun banning and has nothing to do with law enforcement or crime prevention.
[Of course this also means that a Bad Guy(tm) would be able to remove the micro-engraving with a single stroke of a file.]
ReplyDeleteNot if he's smart. According to the ATF the average sale-to-crime for an NYC handgun is more than a dozen years. The gun won't be tracible to the BG, and will only result in the cops spinning their wheels tracing the former legal owner.
[And the main reason many oppose it is that it would add one hundred dollars or more to the cost of each gun.]
Heavy on the "or more."
Engraving the firing pin isn't the main cost. You also have to revise the assembly process to match the correct pin to the right frame. Instead of having a bin of frames and a bin of pins the frame and pin have to be matched as soon as both are marked, and kept together all during the rest of the process. Then you'll have to have extra accounting and paperwork to track the markings with the firearm.
People will collect spent brass fired by the general public or the police at the range and sell it to the criminals to disperse at the scene. Criminals use stolen firearms all the time so no luck there, and if they "borrow" one from friends or family, they can easily deface it. They may even collect their own brass if it implicates them or switch to using revolvers. The number of ways in which micro-stamping can be circumvented or used for mischief is legion.
ReplyDeleteVerdict: another expensive and absolutely USELESS gun control law. Of course, it is not designed to work in the real world; it is there solely to discourage lawful gun ownership, per the above commentors.
... and what happens when the firing pin has to be replaced?
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is that there are actually two places that the mark is engraved.
ReplyDelete1. Firing Pin
2. Firing Chamber
The expansion of the cartridge at firing causes the marking to also get placed on the brass.
If this is true, all that used brass I pick up at the range.....
I hate patents with a passion...yet I'm glad to see that this particular one is being put to good use!
ReplyDeleteIndividuals may acquire invested brass instrument dismissed through the average man or woman or even the law enforcement in the variety and then sell this for the crooks to be able to distribute in the landscape. Crooks make use of taken guns on a regular basis therefore simply no good fortune right now there, of course , if these people "use" 1 coming from family or friends, they are able to effortlessly disfigure that. They could also gather their particular brass instrument whether it implicates these or perhaps change to making use of revolvers. The quantity of ways that mini-rubber stamping may be circumvented or even employed for balefulness is actually horde.
ReplyDelete