Gun flight: Smith & Wesson, Ruger quit California over stamping requirement

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Anyone know where to buy firing pins wholesale? I think it's going to be a "booming" business opportunity...

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/01/2...ng-some-pistols-in-california-due-to-gun-law/

A new gun law proponents say helps law enforcement has driven Smith & Wesson and Sturm Ruger out of California, and affirmed the suspicions of firearms rights advocates that the measure is really about making handguns obsolete.

The two companies have announced they will stop selling their wares in the nation's most populous state rather than try to comply with a law that requires some handguns to have technology that imprints a tiny stamp on the bullet so it can be traced back to the gun. The companies, and many gun enthusiasts, say so-called "microstamping" technology is unworkable in its present form and can actually impair a gun's performance.

“Smith & Wesson does not and will not include microstamping in its firearms,” the Springfield, Mass.,-based manufacturer said in a statement. “A number of studies have indicated that microstamping is unreliable, serves no safety purpose, is cost prohibitive and, most importantly, is not proven to aid in preventing or solving crimes.”

“The microstamping mandate and the company’s unwillingness to adopt this so-called technology will result in a diminishing number of Smith & Wesson semi-automatic pistols available for purchase by California residents.”

Southport, Conn.-based Sturm Ruger also announced this month that they will also stop selling their guns in California due to the microstamping law.

Firearm microstamping, or ballistic imprinting, works by engraving a microscoping marking onto the tip of the firing pin. When the gun is fired, it leaves an imprint, usually of a serial number, on the bullet casings. The telltale mark theoretically allows law enforcement investigators to trace the bullet to the registered gun owner. California’s law is the first in the nation to be implemented and was originally signed into effect in October 2007, but not implemented until recently. Several other states are considering similar measures.

Law-enforcement is exempt from microstamping requirements.

Critics say tracing a bullet to a registered gun owner does little to fight crime, since criminals often kill with stolen handguns. Many believe tracing bullets was never the real intent of the law in the first place.

"This is the latest attempt to undermine the Second Amendment in California by politicians with little to no knowledge of firearms, who seek to impose their liberal values upon those who choose to protect their families with the constitutional right to own a handgun," said Chuck Michel, West Coast Counsel for the National Rifle Association, an Adjunct Professor at Chapman University and author of the book "California Gun Laws."

One of the main arguments critics pose is the claim that the technology is not perfected, yet the requirement has been put into effect.

“The technology doesn’t fully exist yet, but by making it into a law, they [California] in fact enacted a gun law without actually passing one,” David Kopel, a constitutional law professor at the Denver University Sturm College of Law and Research Director of the Independence Institute, told FoxNews.com. “This is an indirect way to ban new handguns from being sold.”

The patent holder of microstamping tech, Todd Lizotte, was part of a Department of Justice study team which concluded that, “legitimate questions exist related to both the technical aspects, production costs, and database management associated with microstamping that should be addresses before wide scale implementation is legislatively mandated,” according to the study which was published in the Association of Firearm and Toolmark Examiners (AFTE) Journal.

Lawsuits were also filed against the Golden State this week by the National Shooting Sports Foundation and the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute challenging the microstamping law saying in a statement this week that they predicted back in 2007 when the law was first passed that it would result in a “de facto semiautomatic handgun ban.”

Other states considering a microstamping requirement include Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts.

Smith & Wesson said it expects sales of its California-compliant revolvers, which aren't required to have microstamping, will offset the impact to the company. Company President and CEO James Debney vowed to continue to work with industry groups to oppose the law, while providing California customers with products that do comply with it.

Two trade groups, the National Shooting Sports Foundation and the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers Institute, filed a legal challenge to the law in California Superior Court earlier this month.

-t
 
In case anyone is interested in the wording of AB1471 that mandates this stupidity, here you go:


BILL NUMBER: AB 1471 AMENDED BILL TEXTAMENDED IN SENATE JULY 11, 2007AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 5, 2007AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 10, 2007INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Feuer(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member DeSaulnier)( Coauthors: Senators Cedillo, Perata, Romero, and Scott ) FEBRUARY 23, 2007An act to amend Section 12126 of the Penal Code, relating to firearms.LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1471, as amended, Feuer. Firearms: microstamping. Existing law defines unsafe handguns as failing to pass certaintests, or lacking certain features, as specified. This bill, the Crime Gun Identification Act of 2007, would,commencing January 1, 2010, expand the definition of "unsafe handgun"to include semiautomatic pistols that are not designed and equippedwith a microscopic array of characters that identify the make, model,and serial number of the pistol, etched in 2 or more places on theinterior surface or internal working parts of the pistol, and thatare transferred by imprinting on each cartridge case when the firearmis fired. Those provisions would be subject to specifiedcertification procedures by the Department of Justice regarding theuse of that technology. By expanding the definition of "unsafe handgun," the manufacture,sale, and other specified transfer of which is a crime, this billwould expand the scope of an existing crime, and thereby impose astate-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse localagencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by thestate. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making thatreimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by thisact for a specified reason. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.State-mandated local program: yes.THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. This act shall be known, and may be cited as, the CrimeGun Identification Act of 2007. SEC. 2. Section 12126 of the Penal Code is amended to read: 12126. As used in this chapter, "unsafe handgun" means anypistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed uponthe person, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 12001, for whichany of the following is true: (a) For a revolver: (1) It does not have a safety device that, either automatically inthe case of a double-action firing mechanism, or by manual operationin the case of a single-action firing mechanism, causes the hammerto retract to a point where the firing pin does not rest upon theprimer of the cartridge. (2) It does not meet the firing requirement for handguns pursuantto Section 12127. (3) It does not meet the drop safety requirement for handgunspursuant to Section 12128. (b) For a pistol: (1) It does not have a positive manually operated safety device,as determined by standards relating to imported guns promulgated bythe federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. (2) It does not meet the firing requirement for handguns pursuantto Section 12127. (3) It does not meet the drop safety requirement for handgunspursuant to Section 12128. (4) Commencing January 1, 2006, for a center fire semiautomaticpistol that is not already listed on the roster pursuant to Section12131, it does not have either a chamber load indicator, or amagazine disconnect mechanism. (5) Commencing January 1, 2007, for all center fire semiautomaticpistols that are not already listed on the roster pursuant to Section12131, it does not have both a chamber load indicator and if it hasa detachable magazine, a magazine disconnect mechanism. (6) Commencing January 1, 2006, for all rimfire semiautomaticpistols that are not already listed on the roster pursuant to Section12131, it does not have a magazine disconnect mechanism, if it has adetachable magazine. (7) Commencing January 1, 2010, for all semiautomatic pistols thatare not already listed on the roster pursuant to Section 12131, itis not designed and equipped with a microscopic array of charactersthat identify the make, model, and serial number of the pistol,etched or otherwise imprinted in two or more places on the interiorsurface or internal working parts of the pistol, and that aretransferred by imprinting on each cartridge case when the firearm isfired, provided that the Department of Justice certifies that thetechnology used to create the imprint is available to more than onemanufacturer unencumbered by any patent restrictions. The AttorneyGeneral may also approve a method of equal or greater reliability andeffectiveness in identifying the specific serial number of a firearmfrom spent cartridge casings discharged by that firearm than thatwhich is set forth in this paragraph, to be thereafter required asotherwise set forth by this paragraph where the Attorney Generalcertifies that this new method is also unencumbered by any patentrestrictions. Approval by the Attorney General shall include noticeof that fact via regulations adopted by the Attorney General forpurposes of implementing that method for purposes of this paragraph. The microscopic array of characters required by this sectionshall not be considered the name of the maker, model, manufacturer'snumber, or other mark of identification, including any distinguishingnumber or mark assigned by the Department of Justice, within themeaning of Sections 12090 and 12094. (c) As used in this section, a "chamber load indicator" means adevice that plainly indicates that a cartridge is in the firingchamber. A device satisfies this definition if it is readily visible,has incorporated or adjacent explanatory text or graphics, or both,and is designed and intended to indicate to a reasonably foreseeableadult user of the pistol, without requiring the user to refer to auser's manual or any other resource other than the pistol itself,whether a cartridge is in the firing chamber. (d) As used in this section, a "magazine disconnect mechanism"means a mechanism that prevents a semiautomatic pistol that has adetachable magazine from operating to strike the primer of ammunitionin the firing chamber when a detachable magazine is not inserted inthe semiautomatic pistol. (e) As used in this section, a "semiautomatic pistol" means apistol, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 12001, the operatingmode of which uses the energy of the explosive in a fixed cartridgeto extract a fired cartridge and chamber a fresh cartridge with eachsingle pull of the trigger. SEC. 3. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant toSection 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution becausethe only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or schooldistrict will be incurred because this act creates a new crime orinfraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penaltyfor a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of theGovernment Code, or changes the definition of a crime within themeaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the CaliforniaConstitution.
 
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Microstamping is easily eliminated with a $1.00 sheet of sandpaper.

Fucking idiots!

I was looking for any language addressing such modification - seems nobody has as yet caught that bit. Idiots is right.

Also not that it asserts that "THE PEOPLE" make this law. A lie.
 
I was looking for any language addressing such modification - seems nobody has as yet caught that bit. Idiots is right.

Also not that it asserts that "THE PEOPLE" make this law. A lie.

All metals can be abraded and by doing so all ballistic tests can be nullified.

The steel used in firearms is, by necessity, more elastic than hard which means it's more easily abraded than many other alloys.

Scotchbrite makes a very good product for "deburring" rifling....
 
I personally enjoy the part "Law-enforcement is exempt from microstamping requirements.".
One rule for the peasants...another for the ruling class.
 
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