January 29, 2014
The microstamping requirement for semi-automatic firearms in California is bad policy but effective gun control.
This is why the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), together with Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute (SAAMI), filed a suit against the microstamping requirement in California on January 9th.
While microstamping proponents claim the policy will lead to crime prevention and aid in police investigations of firearm-related crimes, the reality is that this practice results in de facto gun control–the kind of gun control that caused Smith & Wesson to join Sturm, Ruger, & Co. in announcing they will no longer sell semi-automatic firearms in CA.
In a nutshell, miscrostamping is the placement of a fingerprint on the end of the firing pin of a semi-automatic firearm. In theory, this results in a mark traceable to that firearm–and that firearm alone–every time a bullet is fired and a shell casing ejected.
According to the NSSF, this process “is costly and time consuming” and drives up prices of manufacturing enough to “threaten the employment of thousands in the firearm industry.”