Every so often a new buzzword strikes a chord with the anti-gunners, and the one they're pushing now is microstamping.
Microstamping itself isn't new, it was developed over a decade ago. But now, those seeking new avenues to restrict gun rights are turning to it as a means to accomplish their goals.
Microstamping is a patented process of engraving a serial number on the tip of a firing pin. When it functions properly, the number is stamped onto the primer of a cartridge when it is fired. Gun control advocates claim this will lead to making it easier to solve gun crimes and restrict gun trafficking. They don't mind the myriad flaws with the technology, only that it will help to discourage law abiding gun owners and drive up the costs associated with firearms ownership.
Naturally, the biggest problem with tracing a cartridge back to the gun that fired it, something that can already be accomplished by forensic science, is that it would only lead back to the last registered owner. Even if it is as reliable as claimed (which has not been proven), if that gun is stolen or lost, tracing the spent ammunition will lead to a dead end. Since most guns used in crimes are stolen, they would be no more traceable after microstamping than they are now.
Another drawback is the ease with which the system can be foiled by a criminal. Firing pins can be swapped out, numbers can be filed off, and spent brass can be collected at a firing range and planted at the scene of a crime. The simplest way to beat the system would be to use a revolver, which retains the spent casings.
As a new technology that is unproven, millions of dollars will need to be spent on research and testing. Not to mention that the patent is held by just one company, who would effectively have a monopoly. Both factors would combine to cause a surge in the price of firearms and ammunition, which fits right in with the goals of the gun grabbers by making both out of the price range of as many people as possible.
Guns manufactured before the implementation of the program would present even more issues. If exempt, the program would be even more worthless for the stated goal of solving crimes, though the side benefits of rising prices would still be there. Another option would be to mandate that non-stamped firing pins be replaced, a costly and nearly unenforceable edict. Of course, if the gun banners were to get their way, these noncomplying guns would just be confiscated and destroyed.
These are just a few of the arguments against implementing such a policy, but since anti-gun activists have never seen a piece of gun control legislation they didn't like they are not being swayed from pushing such programs on an unsuspecting public
Source: Link Removed