Schwarzenegger Signs New Gun Law

New Legislation Will Make it Easier to Identify Gun Crimes in California

alex cruden
A new method of identifying gun-related crimes was signed into law on Saturday by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Gun Crime Identification Act was passed by both the California State Assembly and the State Senate, and received the Governor's stamp of approval on order to provide police with a new tool at their disposal to determine which guns are involved in crimes.

The Gun Crime Identification Act (AB 1471) will make it possible for police to identify the gun involved in a crime without the gun. The new law requires that guns will "microstamp" certain information on bullets fired by that gun, such as the serial number, so that the bullet will identify the gun used. This information will be available immediately to law enforcement officers, rather than first having to acquire the gun and comparing certain markings on the bullet casing that is unique to that gun. The new technology can result in faster and more accurate identification of perpetrators in many crimes that involve guns.

The president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Paul Helmke, applauds Governor Schwarzenegger for "taking a bold step to solve gun murders in California. This ground-breaking law gives police officers a powerful tool to apprehend armed criminals and gang members before they strike again." He continued, "The Governor has set a new national standard for the rest of the country to follow."

The law will require all semi-automatic weapons manufactured and sold in California to "microstamp" the make, model and serial number of the gun on each bullet casing starting in 2010. The new technology will be most helpful in crimes where the only evidence available is the bullet casing, such as in the case of drive-by shootings that are common in gang-related crimes.

Assemblyman Mike Feuer, who was formerly a Los Angeles City Councilmember, wrote The Gun Crime Identification Act. Supporters of the bill included such law enforcement organizations as the California Police Chiefs Association, the Los Angeles Police Protective League, and the Orange County Chiefs' and Sheriff's Association as well as 65 police chiefs and sheriffs throughout California.

The National Rifle Association had opposed the Gun Crime Identification Act, launching a campaign to urge California lawmakers to vote no on the bill. The NRA claims that the microstamping technology is flawed, and if the mechanism use to stamp a bullet casing wears out and the gun-owner does not have it replaced, the gun-owner will then be breaking the new law. The NRA also warns against stamped bullets being used to "seed" crime scenes with false evidence.

Source: Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence

Published by alex cruden

What I am doing tonight? The same thing I do every night -- planning to take over the world.  View profile

30 Comments

Post a Comment
  • andrei9/27/2010

    so how about if you reload your own ammos? you need to let the ffl to stamped them first before buying. is there an extra cost for stamping? are they going to lower the ammo prices? in this case you can't anymore share your own ammos to anyone.

  • Micky B5/21/2010

    so whats to stop you from putting someone else's serial number bullet into your gun? then you could frame anyone...or you would never get caught like it is now. And dont you think if serial numbers on casings would give away a criminal, they would file them off... this is such bs for real gun owners... Arnold didnt think about that.

  • craig5/16/2010

    they are going to put the serial number of the pistol or rifle on the bullet its self not the casing.this is a dumb law so every time you want to go shooting you would have to order your ammo wander what the cost of that will be.Im glad I moved out of california.that state is so screwed up I live in utah now and I got a ccw permit I can open carry and get full autos here.

  • RON BELLVILLE12/31/2009

    ALL THE SMOKE SCREEN LEGISLATION BEING ENACTED OR PROPOSED HAS LITTLE TO DO WITH THE BOTTOM LINE. THEY WANT YOUR GUN, AND AMMUNITION OWNING RIGHTS AS WELL AS YOUR HUNTING RIGHTS TO END. FORGET ANY OTHER REASONING OR RHETORIC. TILL YOUR GUNS, AMMUNITION AND HUNTING RIGHTS ARE ENDED ...THEY WON'T STOP!

  • Eric12/6/2009

    The only thing the microstamps prove is which gun the CASING came from. Not where the BULLET that killed the victim came from. This is pure "feel good" legislation with absolutely no practical law enforcement use.

  • Phil Kallenberger10/17/2009

    Seems to me we already know who is doing the drive-by shooting and we keep letting them out of jail to do it again the same as child molestors. If guns and ammo are responsible for killing then spoons are responsible for obesity. This is another idiotic legislation to make us think you are doing your job. I am offended that you consider me to be an idiot too .

  • Phil Kallenberger10/17/2009

    Seems to me we already know who is doing the drive-by shooting%2C and we keep letting them out of jail to do it again the same as child molestors. If guns and ammo are responsible for killing then spoons are responsible for obesity. This is another idiotic legislation to make us think you are doing your job. I am offended that you consider me to be an idiot too .

  • Daniel Arnold9/29/2009

    Why make it more expensive on the average citizen. Guns are rarely used by their owners in a crime. Make the punishment fit the crime not, don't punish the average citizen. If I were to use a gun in a crime after 2010 i would use a revolver. Arnold is an Idiot!

  • Todd Langford4/9/2009

    You are an idiot Arnold. People kill people. Guns do not. Your bill will only make it more expensive for law-abiding citizens to own their own guns but, criminals will just use another's (stolen) ammo if necessary to circumvent that stupid law you signed. If you want to thwart gun crimes, then come down super hard on those who abuse the right to have them. Nothing more is necessary nor effective.

  • GunOwner3/29/2009

    To those that think this is law is a good idea: What is to stop any criminal from getting brass from some other gun besides the one used in the crime, an spreding it around the crime area. An since they are criminals, what is to stop them from forging false ownership of the false brass sn's to list you Elizabeth or you Kelly M as the owner of that gun. Now the cops have to go an waste their time checking you out insteade of finding the real criminal. Yup, this was a good law... for the CRIMINALS. But, what do you expect from someone with Schwarzenegger's background!!

Displaying Comments
Next »

To comment, please sign in to your Yahoo! account, or sign up for a new account.