AB 1471, legislation to require a microscopic stamping of every cartridge as it is fired in a semi-auto pistol, passes today with no Republican support, 44-31. This bill was tried last year by Asm. Paul Koretz, where it was stopped late at night on our floor after coming back from the Senate. The pretense being that ID’d casings, tied to a particular gun, left behind at a shooting would help solve that crime.
The argument that marking bullet casings with a micro-small ID number struck by the firing pin is a way to solve crimes doesn’t hold water for Reeps, what with the fact that it is easy for a criminal to file down the firing pin, or toss other-numbered cartridges out to confuse investigation of a crime scene, or use a revolver that doesn’t eject shells at a crime scene, not to mention that real world studies show that the numbers frequently mis-stamp and aren’t reliable. These are among just a few reasons why this bill won’t solve anything…and why the Governor needs to veto it should it make it’s merry way through the Senate again this year.