California Senate passes

California lawmakers Thursday voted to require weapons manufacturers to ensure that all bullets and cartridges are branded with distinctive serial numbers.
The gun industry said the proposals were impractical and would force weapons makers to either write off the huge California market or adopt practices that would greatly increase the cost of their wares.

These bills have passed in the California Senate. Because of manufacturing concerns, the two most likely outcomes of passage will be either manufacturers simply refusing to sell ammunition to California, or changing their processes to stamp all ammunition made. That means we all have a stake in this outcome.

In order to understand the intent of these bills, we have to consider what has come before. We already know that ballistic fingerprinting doesn't work. The chances of this idea working, given how similar it already is to ballistic fingerprinting, and the hassles of keeping track of literally hundreds of millions of rounds of ammunition sold annually... well, it's unlikely in the extreme that this proposal would have any effect on crime.

So why pass it, and why spend public treasure on it? Aside from the political benefits, of course, there's another reason: to increase the cost of ammunition. California legislators have already resorted to the supernatural in order to pass legislation that would have required extensive documentation -- including a fingerprint -- for anyone purchasing ammunition. They have also tried (and failed, I think) to pass a tax on ammunition... a tax of 10c or so per-bullet. That adds up fast. When you can't pass a tax that admits to being a tax, pass a silly requirement like individualized serial numbers that will raise the prices by about the same amount.

It's not about controlling crime. It's about registering law-abiding gun owners and increasing the economic costs of being an active shooter. When you increase costs, you force some people into alternative (more affordable) activities. That's all they are trying to do... eliminate the gun culture by making shooting more expensive.

Posted on 2005-06-04 23:08:16.0 by matthew@triggerfinger.org

Check the groups below and enter your email address to receive updates by email:

The trackback URL for this entry is: http://triggerfinger.org/weblog/servlet/trackback/6472

No trackbacks have been posted so far.

No comments have been posted so far.