Smith & Wesson to End Most CA Sales Due to Microstamping Regulation

[CaseyJones]

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Govern...Most-CA-Sales-Due-to-Microstamping-Regulation

On January 22nd renowned gun maker Smith & Wesson joined Sturm, Ruger, & Co., by announcing it would cease California sales of its semi-automatic pistols due to microstamping requirements that went into effect last year.

Ruger made the same announcement earlier this month.

Microstamping is a requirement that each firearm be fitted with a special firing pin that leaves a fingerprint on a bullet casing which differs from the fingerprint of every other firearm. In other words--every one of the wildly popular Smith & Wesson M&P .45 semi-automatic handguns would have to be manufactured in such a way so that no two of them left the same mark on a shell casing.

The cost of doing this would be incredibly high to manufacturers, and would be a cost they would have to pass on to consumers in higher prices.

Moreover, the result of doing this would be yet another gun registry--every gun sold that met microstamping requirements would have be to registered so that the government knew who owned the gun that left that fingerprint.

 

[Deborah K]

Figures....

I can't wait until I'm out of this God-forsaken state....

 

[Seraphim]

What's stopping you?

Figures....

I can't wait until I'm out of this God-forsaken state....

 

[Deborah K]

What's stopping you?

Getting house ready for sale.

 

[Acala]

Sounds like a real business opportunity for a gun store on the border.

 

[eduardo89]

Sounds like a real business opportunity for a gun store on the border.

Doesn't federal law prohibit purchasing and taking possession of a firearm in a state in which you do not reside? You would have to have the firearm shipped to an FFL holder in California who would then transfer ownership to you.

 

[pcosmar]

Doesn't federal law prohibit purchasing and taking possession of a firearm in a state in which you do not reside? You would have to have the firearm shipped to an FFL holder in California who would then transfer ownership to you.

Establish residence in two states.

Buy gun in Gun Friendly state.. Drive to other home and put in safe.

Not illegal.

 

[oyarde]

I would not sell anything there.

 

[idiom]

Establish residence in two states.

Buy gun in Gun Friendly state.. Drive to other home and put in safe.

Not illegal.

At some point it becomes easier for the average citizen to just live outside of the law.

DRM demonstrated Americans are more than willing to ignore legal over-reach at a certain point.

It will be a while longer for something as real world as gun ownership, but that will be one of the last things to go.

 

[Henry Rogue]

This is an economic decisions, not a protest. I would think most manufacturers would follow suit. Is LE included in the firing pin signature law when they purchase side arms?

 

[Keith and stuff]

CA is evil. Someone should cut it away from the other 47 states. If the Devil ever comes to the world, it will certainly come via CA!

 

[Occam's Banana]

Is LE included in the firing pin signature law when they purchase side arms?

Apparently not. From another thread: http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showth...ger-quit-California-over-stamping-requirement

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.

 

[Henry Rogue]

Apparently not. From another thread: http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showth...ger-quit-California-over-stamping-requirement

I thought that would be the case. It would make it more difficult for LE to purchase guns.

Just another example of Discriminating laws, chaos and injustice. Where's the "Rule of Law" in that?

 

[Pericles]

I thought that would be the case. It would make it more difficult for LE to purchase guns.

Just another example of Discriminating laws, chaos and injustice. Where's the "Rule of Law" in that?

The continual placing of government employees above the law should run into some equal protection issues at some point, but that is the way a non lawyer looks at the world.

 

[azxd]

It's about time they (and others should) followed Barrett's lead.

 

[Lord Xar]

Do they have manufacturing plants in California? If so, how many people will this put out of work?

 

[jtap]

Do they have manufacturing plants in California? If so, how many people will this put out of work?

In their tiny brains they would think it would create more jobs since more work has to be done to the guns not seeing that if there were any plants there they would move just like others have done (magpul out of Colorado...ATI/Kahr out of NY, I'm sure there are others).

 

[kcchiefs6465]

This is an economic decisions, not a protest. I would think most manufacturers would follow suit. Is LE included in the firing pin signature law when they purchase side arms?

Most certainly they are not.

And most certainly as the thread title suggests, only "most" of the sales will be halted. It would be "all" but they are going to continue arming the police.

I wonder what Glock has to say about this. Hopefully S&W and Glock refuse to sell to LE. That's all it would take for this law to die.

I was under the impression that spent shell casings are already marked by the firing pin in such a way as to make them unique. If this is not the case, perhaps many need new trials.

 

[Pericles]

Most certainly they are not.

And most certainly as the thread title suggests, only "most" of the sales will be halted. It would be "all" but they are going to continue arming the police.

I wonder what Glock has to say about this. Hopefully S&W and Glock refuse to sell to LE. That's all it would take for this law to die.

I was under the impression that spent shell casings are already marked by the firing pin in such a way as to make them unique. If this is not the case, perhaps many need new trials.

Over time, the firing pin and extractor wear in such a way as to mark casing that often can be tied to the weapon that fired the casing, but it is not manufactured into the weapon.