Casing-code issues snag (California) handgun law

[slackmaster]

By James P. Sweeney

U-T SACRAMENTO BUREAU
2:00 a.m. August 10, 2009

SACRAMENTO – Two years after California passed a novel law requiring the next generation of semiautomatic handguns to leave a microscopic identifying code on shell casings, the controversial technology appears no closer to being introduced here or anywhere else.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown has not certified the law, which is required before it can take effect as scheduled on Jan. 1, and his aides could not say when that may happen.

Other states expected to follow California's lead instead have pulled back, waiting in some cases to see what happens here. Similar federal legislation has failed to find any political traction.

Gun manufacturers continue to question the readiness and potential cost of the technology, known as microstamping or ballistic tagging. Regardless, they say, other safety standards unique to California are stopping most companies from introducing handgun models here....

slackmaster comments: This is exactly what I said would happen. The technology is not only unproven, it's owned by a single entity. Even if they figure out a way to make it workable, it will be defeated so easily as to render it useless as a crime-fighting tool.

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