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As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle:
SACRAMENTO
Assembly OKs micro-stamp on some guns
Bill would make state first in nation to require tracking device in semiautomatic pistols
Matthew Yi, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
(05-30) 04:00 PDT Sacramento -- In an effort to curb deadly gun violence, the state Assembly on Tuesday passed a bill that would make California the first in the nation to require a mechanism inside semiautomatic pistols to stamp information that would help authorities track down criminals.
"About 45 percent of all homicides are never solved ... for lack of evidence," the bill's author, Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles, said on the floor of the Assembly. "But we have the technology now to prevent killers from killing again and to bring them to justice."
The measure, AB1471, would require starting in 2010 that all semiautomatic pistols sold in California contain a mechanism to stamp the gun's make, model and serial number on the shell casing of the bullet every time the weapon is fired.
Citing state Department of Justice records, Feuer noted that about 2,400 homicides are committed each year and about 60 percent involve the use of a handgun. Moreover, about 70 percent of new handguns sold in California are semiautomatic pistols, he said.
While supporters of the legislation hailed the bill as a desperately needed tool for law enforcement to solve shooting crimes, opponents argued the technology is unproven and there are too many loopholes in the measure to be effective.
Perhaps the biggest problem would be that innocent people could be framed for crimes that they did not commit, said Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa, D-Richvale (Butte County).
"Other ammunition rounds can be thrown around at the scene of the crime ... or criminals can use revolvers that do not eject shell casings," he said.
The idea of "micro-stamping" is catching on at the federal level. Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Los Angeles, and Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, said earlier this month that they, too, will craft a micro-stamping bill in Congress.
"There's always that concern that others will follow California. Like they say, the way California goes, the rest of the nation goes," said Marc Halcon, president of the California Association of Firearms Retailers.
In California, a previous effort to pass a micro-stamping bill failed.
Last year, then-Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, introduced a similar bill that passed several hurdles but came up two votes shy in the Assembly on the last day of the legislative session.
On Tuesday, the Assembly approved Feuer's version in a 44-29 vote, largely along party lines. The bill now heads to the state Senate.
Feuer said the primary difference in this year's bill is that the measure requires the micro-stamping mechanism to etch the information from at least two different places in the pistol. Last year's bill only required one and the firing pin was widely considered as the most logical piece of the firearm to stamp the information. Opponents argued then, and now, that the firing pin can be removed and defaced, or simply replaced.
That's why his bill requires the etching to occur in more than one place inside the gun, Feuer said.
Several Republican members of the Assembly voiced their opposition by arguing that there is little evidence that additional laws on gun control actually lead to less crimes, or that approving the measure would only enrich a single patent-holder of the technology.
Feuer dismissed the latter argument by saying that the patent owner, NanoMark Technologies of Londonderry, N.H., has agreed to give away the patents to gun manufacturers if the bill is enacted.
"This is not a gun control bill. It's a crime control bill," said Assemblyman Paul Krekorian, D-Burbank. "We know that there is an epidemic of gun crimes in the state."
Pro-gun organizations said they are troubled by AB1471 and argued the measure will only hurt law-abiding gun owners because the measure would drive up the prices of firearms.
"Micro-stamping is an ill-advised proposition," said Andrew Arulanandam, a spokesman for the National Rifle Association of America.
E-mail Matthew Yi at [email protected].
The article can be found at; http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/artic.../BAG7QQ3PBB1.DTL&hw=Matthew+Yi&sn=001&sc=1000
- Janq
SACRAMENTO
Assembly OKs micro-stamp on some guns
Bill would make state first in nation to require tracking device in semiautomatic pistols
Matthew Yi, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
(05-30) 04:00 PDT Sacramento -- In an effort to curb deadly gun violence, the state Assembly on Tuesday passed a bill that would make California the first in the nation to require a mechanism inside semiautomatic pistols to stamp information that would help authorities track down criminals.
"About 45 percent of all homicides are never solved ... for lack of evidence," the bill's author, Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles, said on the floor of the Assembly. "But we have the technology now to prevent killers from killing again and to bring them to justice."
The measure, AB1471, would require starting in 2010 that all semiautomatic pistols sold in California contain a mechanism to stamp the gun's make, model and serial number on the shell casing of the bullet every time the weapon is fired.
Citing state Department of Justice records, Feuer noted that about 2,400 homicides are committed each year and about 60 percent involve the use of a handgun. Moreover, about 70 percent of new handguns sold in California are semiautomatic pistols, he said.
While supporters of the legislation hailed the bill as a desperately needed tool for law enforcement to solve shooting crimes, opponents argued the technology is unproven and there are too many loopholes in the measure to be effective.
Perhaps the biggest problem would be that innocent people could be framed for crimes that they did not commit, said Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa, D-Richvale (Butte County).
"Other ammunition rounds can be thrown around at the scene of the crime ... or criminals can use revolvers that do not eject shell casings," he said.
The idea of "micro-stamping" is catching on at the federal level. Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Los Angeles, and Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, said earlier this month that they, too, will craft a micro-stamping bill in Congress.
"There's always that concern that others will follow California. Like they say, the way California goes, the rest of the nation goes," said Marc Halcon, president of the California Association of Firearms Retailers.
In California, a previous effort to pass a micro-stamping bill failed.
Last year, then-Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, introduced a similar bill that passed several hurdles but came up two votes shy in the Assembly on the last day of the legislative session.
On Tuesday, the Assembly approved Feuer's version in a 44-29 vote, largely along party lines. The bill now heads to the state Senate.
Feuer said the primary difference in this year's bill is that the measure requires the micro-stamping mechanism to etch the information from at least two different places in the pistol. Last year's bill only required one and the firing pin was widely considered as the most logical piece of the firearm to stamp the information. Opponents argued then, and now, that the firing pin can be removed and defaced, or simply replaced.
That's why his bill requires the etching to occur in more than one place inside the gun, Feuer said.
Several Republican members of the Assembly voiced their opposition by arguing that there is little evidence that additional laws on gun control actually lead to less crimes, or that approving the measure would only enrich a single patent-holder of the technology.
Feuer dismissed the latter argument by saying that the patent owner, NanoMark Technologies of Londonderry, N.H., has agreed to give away the patents to gun manufacturers if the bill is enacted.
"This is not a gun control bill. It's a crime control bill," said Assemblyman Paul Krekorian, D-Burbank. "We know that there is an epidemic of gun crimes in the state."
Pro-gun organizations said they are troubled by AB1471 and argued the measure will only hurt law-abiding gun owners because the measure would drive up the prices of firearms.
"Micro-stamping is an ill-advised proposition," said Andrew Arulanandam, a spokesman for the National Rifle Association of America.
E-mail Matthew Yi at [email protected].
The article can be found at; http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/artic.../BAG7QQ3PBB1.DTL&hw=Matthew+Yi&sn=001&sc=1000
- Janq
