Rep. Young Pushes Microstamping in Wisconsin

Only someone ignorant of gun technology and human behavior would push something like this - not to mention the other implications.

Rep. Leon Young (D-Milwaukee) has introduced legislation that would require semi-automatic handguns manufactured after Jan. 1, 2011 sold in Wisconsin to feature microstamping technology. This technology is an enormous advancement in ballistic identification from what law enforcement currently use.

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Microstamping technology uses lasers to make precise and specific etchings on the internal mechanisms of the gun. When the gun is fired, a unique alpha-numeric code is intentionally stamped onto the cartridge and is used to identify the make, model, and serial number of the gun. Current technology relies on unintentional markings left on the casing when the gun is fired and do not directly lead law enforcement to a specific gun.

First, let’s take a look at the reality of something like this if it is implimented…. it’s worthless as a crime-fighting tool.  There are already hundreds of millions of guns in circulation without this and a properly maintained gun can last for centuries.  I have several guns that are quite a bit older than I am and they work great.  Also, as a state law, people could still buy guns from out of state where this doesn’t apply.  Furthermore, it takes all of about three seconds to sand off the firing pin or put a coating on it to disable the microstamping.  Not to mention that the whole issue can be avoided by a crook by merely using a revolver or taking a second to clean up the scene.  As I said, this is worthless as a law enforcement item.

But consider the larger implications of the proposal.  Information like the serial number of a gun is useless without knowing who owns the gun.  As it stands, if law enforcement happened to find a microstamped shell casing, all it would tell them is where the gun was originally sold.  They would then have to track the trail of ownership.  I’ll bet you dollars to donuts that if this is passed, the next proposal down the road will be for all gun owners to register their guns with the government so that law enforcement can look up the current owner of the gun. 

This bill is nothing more than a means to an end.