State Attorney General Issues Report On Ballistic “Fingerprints”
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Attorney General Bill Lockyer says the technology doesn´t yet exist to enable California to track the ballistic “fingerprints” of every firearm made and sold in the state. His report is based on two state studies that are helping drive the national gun control debate. Those studies find it currently is impractical to catalog the unique identifying marks from every firearm in California.
Opponents of a national database are using the California studies to counter congressional proposals for a nationwide ballistics database spurred by last fall´s sniper spree on the East Coast. Proponents had hoped a California law would help spur similar databases in other states and, ultimately, nationally.
