Fighting Crime With Technology
ALBANY---As large cities across New York try to curb gun violence, legislators are trying to lend a hand. They want to force gun manufacturers to implement technology which would allow law enforcement to trace bullet casings.
This bill to trace shell casings was introduced by a democratic assemblywoman and there is also support in the Republican-controlled Senate.
If the bill moves through both the Assembly and Senate, all new semiautomatic pistols made or delivered to licensed dealers in New York would have to be microstamped, a way of tracing what bullets come from what guns.
"The only person who would not want micro stamping is someone who fires a gun and doesn't want to get caught," Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel said.
Here's how microstamping works. When a gun is fired, the make, model and serial number of the gun is stamped onto the shell casing in the form of letters and numbers.
The hope is that investigators can trace the original gun purchaser and start a tracking process.
"If we get three shells at the scene, we have a 90% chance of getting a match on that shell and where that gun came from," Senator Martin Golden said.
Senator Martin Golden, a former New York City police officer, says the support is there from the majority conference. He notes microstamping isn't the magic bullet in crime fighting, but it could be an effective tool in tracking down those who are shooting up the streets.
"Will it solve the murder, will it solve the shooting? It may not, but it gives us the extra tool to track that gun down," Golden said.
If the bill becomes law, microstamping technology on new semiautomatic pistols would be mandatory by 2010.
"So if you're using it in a proper manner, you won't even notice it the micro stamping technology, and I'm telling the hundreds of sportsmen, the peace officers, this is strictly for crime prevention," said Schimel said.
---Why is this a problem to NRA?
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