Maryland scraps gun "fingerprint" database

[AlanM]

Maryland scraps gun "fingerprint" database after 15 failed years

Millions of dollars later, Maryland has officially decided that its 15-year effort to store and catalog the "fingerprints" of thousands of handguns was a failure.

Since 2000, the state required that gun manufacturers fire every handgun to be sold here and send the spent bullet casing to authorities. The idea was to build a database of "ballistic fingerprints" to help solve future crimes.

But the system — plagued by technological problems — never solved a single case. Now the hundreds of thousands of accumulated casings could be sold for scrap.

[OakRidgeStars]

Thus proving once and for all that the only thing government succeeds at is failure.

[SHMIV]

Huh. How about that. It's almost as if criminals don't commit crimes with guns that they bought from a store.

Weird.

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[WRW]

"It's a little unfortunate, in that logic and common sense suggest that it would be a good crime-fighting tool." There is a telling statement on the quality of "common sense" utilized by elected officials. Even after the failure of the program it is still considered, by one official, to be logical and makes "common sense".

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[ShotgunBlast]

"The party of science" rejected previous attempts to repeal this boondoggle because of partisan ideology and not looking at the dismal results. It took the committee chair getting elected into a more destructive position to finally get this passed.

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[MarcSpaz]

Huh. How about that. It's almost as if criminals don't commit crimes with guns that they bought from a store.

Weird.

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I laughed so loud that the people at work now know I'm not working at the moment. LOL

Can I use that line?

[SHMIV]

Lol, sure.

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[wittmeba]

I recall reading that criminals purchase most handguns from the streets, sell them within 1 year as they don't want to hang onto a gun used in a crime.

Doesn't that just hand-off a criminally used gun to the next criminal?

[MarcSpaz]

It does... but they dump it to someone with no ties to the crime committed with the weapon. So, basically, there are black market gun dealers. Criminals buy guns from them, use them for awhile, and then sell them back or trade them with the dealer. Then the dealer dumps it somewhere else in the country (different state, etc.) Rarely do dirty guns get passed around the local criminal element. That is unless someone is trying to burn a nemesis. Almost all illegal guns are dirty. If you want a clean ghost gun... its almost the prices of new retail.

[jdonovan]

so you're buying a stolen gun from a known criminal, because you can't buy a gun from a dealer, and you're worried that it might have a sketchy history?

[MarcSpaz]

Sure... these guys are dumb, but not stupid. If the kill someone with a gun, they don't want to get arrested later with that gun... they are trying to avoid murder charges, so they ditch the gun. If they live in VA and get a different gun with a murder in CA, they will have some charges for the weapon... but it won't be for the body in CA.

The idea behind it is, if a VA gun has a CA body on it, but the 17 year old gang banger has never been out of PWC... he's not getting a murder charge.

The problem is honest, non-criminal types don't see the logic behind it. Mostly because we don't want to go to jail at all. A good person will never say that they are okay with jail for a weapons charge, but not murder.

[SHMIV]

Lol, seems funny, but an understandable concern. Buying one of those super sketchy guns could tie you to a murder that you didn't commit.

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[wittmeba]

...Since 2000, the state required that gun manufacturers fire every handgun to be sold here and send the spent bullet casing to authorities. The idea was to build a database of "ballistic fingerprints" to help solve future crimes.

I had to laugh. When I bought my S&W M&P the one spent casing was in the box in a small envelope. I guess I should have sent it to the authorities. Har-har!

[WRW]

The movie, "My Cousin Vinnie" always bothered me because the "rule out" parts (posi-traction vs. standard rear) of the "different" cars were junkyard twins.

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