Quoted:
I doubt that any gun manufacturer would go through the process of integrating the microstamping into their
pistols just so they could be sold in WI. The end result of this bill would be to end all sales of new semi-auto
handguns in WI.... and Coggs and the Dems knows it.
There is at least one manufacturer that I know that has no plans to do microstamping unless all 50 states
do so, and maybe not even then.
The real problem, though, is ignorance. Most people are completely ignorant about how things actually
work, so they are completely unaware that, as a functioning technology, "microstamping" doesn't exist.
The technology exists, but it is so easy to defeat it is laughable. In the end it will have no effect on the
commision of crimes by criminals, and it will only affect the law-abiding citizens of WI.
(In fact, the only way this would ever work is if criminals are allowed to legally purchase firearms,
and then they didn'y modify those same guns. Maybe we should sugest to these two morons that
criminals be allowed to purchase guns legally and see what they do.)
Here is the text of the nonsense: (It actually sounds more like the press release for the company that
wants to sell the technology to the gun manfacturers)
(Note those items highlighted)
FROM: Representative Leon D. Young and Senator Spencer Coggs
DATE: March 24, 2009
RE: Co-sponsorship of LRB 1235/1 and LRB 2424/1, relating to creating a microstamping requirement for
certain handguns, certification of compliance with microstamping requirement, requiring the exercise of
rule-making authority, and providing penalties.
Deadline: April 7, 2009
We have all been appalled by the tragic and senseless incidences of random gun violence. For years,
law enforcement agencies have grappled with the difficult and often daunting task of ballistic identification ––
matching the gun with the bullet casings found at a particular crime. Microstamping represents a quantum
leap in ballistic identification, which can further assist law enforcement in its ongoing efforts to reduce crime
and curb gun violence.
Microstamping:
For close to a century, law enforcement officials have used cartridge casings found at a crime scene to help
identify the particular gun used in a crime. Microstamping represents an evolution in ballistic identification.
Microstamping technology uses lasers to make precise and microscopic engravings on internal mechanisms
of a gun, such as the breech face and firing pin. When the gun is fired, information identifying the make, model
and serial number of the gun is intentionally stamped onto the cartridge. This represents a significant
improvement over existing ballistic identification technology, which relies on the unintentional markings that are
transferred from the gun to the cartridge case, when a gun is fired. These unintentional markings are then
compared to a database of images of "ballistic fingerprints" gathered from other crime scenes. While this
information can provide links between crimes, it cannot lead investigators directly to a specific firearm unless
that weapon is ultimately recovered. Microstamping, on the other hand, immediately identifies the particular
gun and, thus, provides law enforcement officials with a powerful new crime-solving tool.
If you would like to co-sponsor this legislation, please respond to this e-mail or contact Greg in Rep. Young’s
office at 266-3786 or Dave de Felice in Sen. Coggs’ office at 266.2500 by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 7.
Co-sponsors will be listed on both the Senate and Assembly versions of the bill unless otherwise indicated.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
This bill prohibits a gun manufacturer or a firearms dealer from transferring a semiautomatic handgun that
does not produce an identifying code (microstamp) on each cartridge case it expends if both of the
following apply: 1) the handgun was manufactured on or after January 1, 2011; and 2) the handgun has
not previously been transferred to a person that is not a manufacturer or dealer (new handgun).
This bill also prohibits a manufacturer in this state from manufacturing, on or after January 1, 2011, a
semiautomatic handgun that does not produce a microstamp. A person that violates one of these
prohibitions is subject to a fine of up to $1,000 or imprisonment for up to nine months, or both.
The bill also requires manufacturers and dealers who transfer a handgun that is required to produce
microstamps to certify that the handgun, if it is a new handgun, produces microstamps and that the
manufacturer of the handgun will disclose to a law enforcement agency that has collected a microstamp
from an expended cartridge during a criminal investigation the make, model, and serial number of the
handgun that expended the cartridge. This bill prohibits a person from modifying a semiautomatic handgun
that produces microstamps if the person intends to prevent law enforcement from being able to access
the microstamp on an expended cartridge. A person who violates this prohibition is guilty of a misdemeanor
and is subject to a fine of up to $1,000 or imprisonment for not more than 90 days, or both. A person who
transfers a semiautomatic handgun that he or she knows has been modified in violation of this prohibition is
subject to a fine of up to $1,000 or imprisonment for not more than nine months, or both.
Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime, the Joint Review Committee
on Criminal Penalties may be requested to prepare a report concerning the proposed penalty and the
costs or savings that are likely to result if the bill is enacted.
For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.