Bullet-Stamping Impossible, says CA Supreme Court

I said it in 2004, and California is finally admitting that the proposition that you can identify crime evidence by stamping an unique serial number on EVERY BULLET is an impossible task!

The Latest: California Justices Toss Bullet Stamping Suit | California News | US News: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Latest on a ruling by the California Supreme Court on a state bullet stamping law (all times local): 10:45 a.m. The California Supreme Court says state laws cannot be invalidated on the grounds that complying with them is impossible. The unanimous ruling on Thursday rejected a lawsuit by gun rights groups that sought to throw out a California law that requires new models of semi-automatic handguns to stamp identifying information on bullet casings. The groups argued that technology did not exist to meet the stamping requirements, and a law can't mandate something that's not possible.

(Actually, I think the term "Bullet Stamping" is misleading; the intent is not to serialize the actual projectile, but to emboss on the base of the cartridge a code which uniquely identifies the firearm which fired the cartridge.)

So .. the whole "Bullet-Stamping" thingie is no longer an issue in California.

Because the Supreme Court of the State of California doesn't care that it's technically impossible to comply with the law.   Which implies that the law will be enacted.

I addressed it twice in 2014: here and here.

(BTW .. most alternatives include stamping or embossing  unique serial numbers on the base of a cartridge when the gun is fired the identifiers would supposedly identify the guj from which the round was fired..   That doesn't do much for rounds fired from a revolver, which are not automatically ejected onto a 'crime scene".)

Embossed serial numbers from firing pins and breaches of firerms can easily be sanded down or filled in until the actual serial number is obfuscated to the point where they are unreliable in a Court of Law.

The last time I addressed the issue was 2014, when I finally admitted that California had their heads so far up their nether regions that they were unlikely to ever change their unrealistic rhetoric.

Things have changed.  Sort of.

 California DID ... finally ... take a closer look at the mechanics of the  issue and realize that they were wasting time, money and political power on a never-win issue.    So they said "do it anyway", and washed their hands of the issue.

ONE OF THE ISSUES in this inane law is that the details were .. unclear.

Ultimately, EVERY gun part which might be used to stamp an unique identifier onto either the primer or the base of a cartridge is readily (and cheaply) replaceable ... or subject to obfuscation by use of a file or an emery board..

There is no part of a semi-automatic pistol which cannot be replaced or altered .. even temporarily ... with a "Box Stock"  part within a matter of seconds.  Which makes the concept that imprinting a "serial number" on the base of a cartridge not only unrealistic, but laughable.

You may argue that the "frame" of a handgun is inviolate.  It isn't; if I have a file and sandpaper.

While California is working hard to accept 20th Century realities... they still have a long way to go.

But a "We Did Our Best" is not good enough in a court of law.'

And it's still anti-Second Amendment to register a gun.

(updated August 05, 2018, to recognize that the California Supreme court rejected an argument which would have invalidated the new law)

WAPO is always good for a laugh

The NRA is laughing all the way to the bank - Opinion pages of The Washington Post:

Even though the Capital Gazette shooter had threatened the newspaper, he was still able to legally purchase a gun — the common denominator of all the modern mass killings in the United States.

I'm not sure how the NRA is conflated with a mass shooting, but under Federal Law citizens with no felony convictions or history of mental illness are free to exercise their Constitutional Rights.

But I guess that the good folks who write Letters to the Editor of the Washington Post rely less  on reason and facts, than hyperbole and Liberal Hypnosis.   They would rather attack the National Rifle Association for its defense of the Second Amendment rights of ALL Americans,  than to address the mania of today's American Psyche.

Is there A Good Reason why writers to the editor of WAPO should hypothesize that their fellow citizens who legally own guns should be tarred with the same brush as a mass murderer?

Example:

Once the concrete of Trump's fascist republic fully cures, the NRA crowd will be sorely disappointed when the democracyless (?) right wing state of their dreams knocks on the front door demanding to collect their guns. 

Wow.  Like, that's really, really DEEP man, y'know.  What's that stuff you're smoking?
It has  verisimilitude, analogy, and all that stuff that make you sound, like ... smart?

(I'd love to see the WAPO OPINION author of this article knock on the door of any legal gun owner and demand  to confiscate the constitutionally protected firearms there.   That's the epitome of "democracyless " ... which I think is a "made up" word.)

I doubt there's a reasoning person in this country who doesn't think that the mass murder of innocents is unconscionable..

If the people behind that knocked door were ALL armed, and the killer knew it ... that massacre would never have happened. 

Because wolves only hunt sheep.

And the writer of this opinion article is definitely a "sheeple".

This is me.  Laughing.

Parkland Pederast Punished?

Somebody is unclear on the concept: "Campus Security".

 It's astonishing that a school guard could sexually harass a female student, and then utterly fail to prevent her death, and still find employment within the district. But that's public schools for you.

School Security Guard Who Didn’t Stop the Parkland Shooter Was Suspended for Sexually Harassing Students - Hit & Run : Reason.com:

This should probably be filed under "Who Shall Guard the Guardians", (Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? )


It's a useful phrase.  One which invites the reader to say: "Hmmmmmm ...."

Just saying,

"Stop CCR"

I note that Everytown for Gun Safety has a movement to "STOP CCR" (Concealed Carry Reciprocity - see below) and they are campaigning against it.

They don't recognize that everyone with a "CHL" (Concealed Handgun License, also known by other terms in various states) has been thoroughly vetted to prevent anyone with a felony conviction  from being allowed to own, let alone carry, a firearm. 

Some states also deny CCR for individuals who are convicted of misdemeanor offenses, usually limited to domestic violence.   Note that these misdemeanors may not involve conviction in a court of law ... the mere charge may be sufficient.

Most responsible gun owners are "uncomfortable" with firearms ownership by people who cannot control their emotions; that's why they do not speak against local laws which block domestic abusers, for instance, from exercising their Second Amendment rights.

Still ... if their local state does not consider them a risk to Public Safety ... why should their neighboring states look upon us with dubious eye?

Concealed Carry Reciprocity | Everytown for Gun Safety: “Concealed Carry Reciprocity” (CCR)—S.446 and H.R. 38—is a chaotic and dangerous policy that would gut every state’s gun laws and make our communities less safe. Right now, every state sets its own rules for who can carry a hidden, loaded handgun in public. There is no national standard for who can carry hidden, loaded handguns in public, and rather than create a uniform standard, CCR would effectively turn the weakest state’s laws into nationwide laws.

The point of CCR (Reciprocity) is to protect legal, responsible gun owners from harassment when they travel between states.    This is a particularly important issue for people who travel between states and who may not be familiar with the nuances of laws endemic in the states through which they travel.   We have seen instances of people engaged in interstate travel who are stopped by local police for a minor traffic offense and subsequently are arrested for violation of a law which forbids activities which are legal in their home state.

But EVERYTOWN doesn't accept the "excuse" of ignorance of interstate laws, and instead has taken unto themselves to point out the supposed danger to citizens by armed passers-by

Firearms owners who travel between states do have the responsibility to be aware of the gun laws of every state they enter;  "Ignorance is No Excuse" is the term you're looking for.  There are several internet resources which are available for the traveler to determine how (for instance) their firearm must be stored in their vehicle during travel.

But it's even more complicated than that,

I think I'm in love..

Of course, she's a bit of a "Spring Chicken" ... only 68. And a Brit.

But I can overlook that for a Rocker.