Microstamping: Save Lives, Solve Crimes!

Gun control has become a key progressive concern, central to affirming the role of government regulation of public safety in the face of tea party assertions of putative “Second Amendment” rights.

And we are now very close to victory on a key legislative priority: a microstamping bill that is resoundingly supported by gun-control groups and leaders in law enforcement has just passed the NYS Assembly.  It is only two or three votes shy of clearing the State Senate later this month. S 675, the Senate version, would go a long way toward fulfilling a longstanding aim of its advocates, putting an indelible signature on gun ownership and on the use of instruments of lethal violence.

Microstamping imprints a unique alpha-numeric code on every shell casing ejected from a semi-automatic handgun, allowing police and investigators at a crime scene to trace the casings back to the original gun purchaser. Supported by police departments, law enforcement organizations, district attorneys, and over 100 mayors from across New York State, microstamping would help solve long-open crimes, often committed by hardened criminals. But perhaps most importantly, it would go far toward limiting the persistent tragedies of daily life in big cities and other communities–the drive-by shootings, the random shots into crowds or outside of schools and other civic institutions that result in often-traceless deaths and, inevitably, in the devastation of families and communities.

The recent Memorial Day weekend alone witnessed shootings in New York City boroughs that resulted in several seemingly unmotivated deaths–crimes that are currently unsolved because they are traceless, but that could be easily resolved with an electronic click, were legal requirements for microstamping in effect.

Greater New York City for Change is partnering with New Yorkers Against Gun Violence to phone bank this week, calling on constituents of the few wavering state senators, including Marty Golden here in Bay Ridge, to do the right thing for public safety and to enforce its number-one legislative priority. Our friends at Tribeca for Change, Democracy for New York City (DFNYC), Upper West Side Democrats for Progress, Downtown East for Obama, and Brooklyn for Barack, among other groups, are in, too. We need your help, so please join us for an hour or two, in numbers! A sweet victory–for common-sense regulation, public security and well-being, and an end to the too-powerful control of the gun lobby over democratic rights– is at hand if YOU get involved.

Phone Banks to Pass Microstamping (S 675)

227 West 17th Street, 6th Floor, Manhattan, NY (between 7th and 8th Ave)

Tuesday, June 7, 6pm-9pm
RSVP at http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpkh9h

Thursday, June 9,  6pm-9pm
RSVP at http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpkmfl

 

Posted by Kate Linker

6 thoughts on “Microstamping: Save Lives, Solve Crimes!

  1. John

    “Common sense gun control” should maybe evaluate who is committing the most gun crimes. It’s not the guy who’s taking the time to go through the archaic NYS pistol permit screening process, it’s the guy getting illegal guns from out of state, then defacing the serial numbers or other identifying characteristics, then using them in homicides, which coincidentally, are also illegal in NY. Common sense means pursuing those intent on breaking the law. Pistol permit holders are not those people. Then again, “common sense” is a term usually not used in reference to the gun control proponents. They rely more on emotion, rhetoric and propaganda for their small minded goals of disarming the law abiding, while the criminals do as they please.

  2. Ryan Forrest

    This is filled with entirely too many lies and half truths to even know wher to begin.
    1. Microstamping cannot, I repeat, cannot solve any crime that has already happened.
    2. It will probably be as successful as CoBIS. Look it up. It costs us millions a year and in over 10 years, has not solved one crime. This is just another feel good piece of legislation that will do absolutely nothing to solve crimes. Just like CoBIS.
    3. This “technology” has been proven ineffective. The proponents of this “technology” had to shop around for someone (other than the holder of the patents) to say it would work.
    4. This only applies to new semi-automatic pistols legally sold new in NY. It does not apply to anything else. I do believe the same people pushing this bill are the same ones stating a large percentage of guns used in crimes, or illegally posessed in NY, are brought in from out of state. It won’t work on any of those guns.

    If you are interested in seeing more on why this is a bad law, please see http://www.scopeny.org/anti-gun-legislation.html.
    There, you will see links to position papers contrary to the one of the author on this and other laws restricting civil rights. While everyone is entitled to their own opinion, please get all the facts available prior to your decision.

  3. franco

    this legislation seems somewhat silly. cant tracing the bullets back to the handgun being used simply be defeated by picking up the fired shells? or worse yet, what if a criminal obtained some shells fired from another hand gun at the range and deposited them at the scene of the crime in turn framing an innocent person?

  4. Jack

    You only presented one side of the story.

    1) All of the benefits of this technology come from the developer of the technology and all independent testing done by academic and forensic agencies have raised serious questions as to its viability. To date there has been NO real world testing to see if the technology works as claimed by the developer.

    2) New York State already has a ballistics “fingerprinting” database called CoBIS. It was enacted 10 years ago to do exactly what microstamping is touted for. CoBIS has so far cost New York State over $30 million and has resulted in not one single conviction, nor one single arrest as a result. Microstamping will be no different.

    3) More than half of the recovered crime guns would not be affected by microstamping because they are revolvers, long guns or guns no longer manufactured.

    4) Most crime guns are stolen or come from out of state and would not be traceable by microstamping.

    5) Microstamping is easy to defeat. All one needs is to file down the tip of the firing pin – about 10 minutes. In addition, a crook only needs to hang out a pistol range where LEGAL firearms shooters practice, and then collect the spent brass left behind. Commit a crime, and leave some other person’s ejected cartridge and viola! The cops will be looking for the a innocent person.

    6) Crooks get their firearms illegally. In fact, Mayor Bloomberg himself stated that we need microstamping “to get the illegal guns off the street.” The problem is that crooks are well, crooks. They don’t obey the law in the first place, so how will the cops trace their ILLEGAL handguns? Quite preposterous, when you think of it. Let’s use an unproven technology that does not affect illegal weapons to get illegal weapons out of the hands of bad guys.

    7) How about focusing on the criminal and enforcing the laws on the books? Round up gang members, lock them up and forget about them.

    8) New York State already has among the most restrictive gun control laws in the country. Want to purchase a handgun legally? You MUST apply for a pistol license, which included a background check to the FBI and the NY State Police. Fingerprints and photos are taken, references are checked. Once your application is in, then you have a 6 month wait. After all that, you cannot even carry your pistol due to administrative restriction. For example, on Long Island, your license restricts you to carry to and from a range only. No stops for gas, ammo, food, nothing. And those rules are for upstate and Long Island. Want a pistol license in NYC? Good luck. Will never happen. You have to be rich or famous too legally carry a pistol in NYC. Just ask Chuck Schummer.

    The fact of the matter, microstamping is not about saving lives, protecting cops, or public safety. It is all about a power grab by politicians, especially the former State Senator and now Attorney General Schneiderman and the power hungry Bloomberg, who wants to spread his influence.

    So how about running a phone bank to capture and lock up criminals? That would be an appropriate use of your time.

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