Ravenwood - 01/13/05 07:00 AM
The Maryland State Police issued a report about the failure of their "ballistic fingerprinting" database. After diverting millions of dollars away from real police work, the system has solved ZERO crimes. KdT has the scoop, which can be summed up by the following:
"Guns found to be used in the commission of crime...are not the ones being entered into" the system. [...]How long before some liberal quack pipes up and says the 'fix' for the system is to throw more money at it while deflecting blame on neighboring states (like that evil Virginia) who haven't thrown their money down a similar rat hole.Extremist gun control groups supported this requirement because it amounts to a de facto gun registry in the guise of a crime-fighting tool.
While the theory behind "ballistic fingerprinting" is sound, I'm not certain that it can be done in a way that manages to catalog the weapons law enforcement is really after- the ones used to commit crimes.
Being a proud "Liberal Quack" myself, I like the theory, but the execution and the reality sucks. I believer that their SHOULD be a gun registry, but first you need to figure out a way to account for ALL weapons, not just legal ones. I'm not at all certain this is even possible.
Posted by: Jack Cluth at January 13, 2005 7:40 AMNot only is it not possible Jack, it's illegal. The courts have already ruled that per the Fifth Amendment, a criminal cannot be forced to register his gun. The logic is that since he's not allowed to have a gun in the first place, forcing him to register it would be forcing self incrimination which is illegal.
Therefore, by definition a gun registry would only affect law-abiding citizens. And there is that little matter of gun confiscation. History proves that registration leads to confiscation time and time again. (ie: Australia, UK, California, New York.)
Posted by: Ravenwood at January 13, 2005 7:46 AMNot to mention the physical limitations of the system. Ballistic fingerprints can be changed (not to mention changing over time with use). Sorry, even if it was a good idea (it is not), it wouldn't work.
Posted by: Nick Bourbaki at January 13, 2005 8:50 AMHow the hell is the theory sound?
Its anything but . . . thats the problem. It was written by people with no knowledge of firearms and little clue to basic facts of life.
You simply can't get a fingerprint from a new firearm that in any way will replicate the fingerprint of that firearms only a few boxes of ammo later.
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