I think many of you are missing some VERY IMPORTANT points. If a crime is commited with a gun - any gun - what is (or should be) the goal of the law enforcement community? Finding the CRIMINAL, not determining what gun was used. Which gun is irrelevant, unless you are trying to gather data to further agendas like the current lawsuits against manufacturer/dealers. For this proposed database to work, it would need to be tied to a national registry of ALL firearms ownerws. Also, because this would create more work for manufacturers, they would have to raise prices to cover the costs. The government would likewise need to spend a great deal of $$ to build and maintain this system. I beleive the figure I heard was $20 million to start with. All of this money and effort for what? It WILL NOT prevent crime, as it is not a proactive system, but a reactive one. It is NOT cost effective, since so few guns are used in crime vs. the total numnber in circulation, not to mention the fact that there is no way to get everyone with guns manufactured prior to the implementation of this system to come in for "testing". With all of that said, what happens when we nick our own barrels? Swap barrels, bolts, etc? Install a new firing pin or ejector? Even toss a 400 Corbon barrle in our 45, or a 357sig barrel in our 40s&w? The differences in markings on the casings are caused by ever so slight variances during the manufacturing and assembly process. Make any changes and you get a whole new set of markings. What then would happen if Joe Criminals Glock produced markings nearly identical to John Goodguy? Would they have probable cause to search his home and arrest him? I see no good in this excessivly expensive solution to a non-problem. This could only hurt us in the long run. Let Glock know how you feel about this decision. Also let your legislators know.
-Spyderman
Will B.- I totally agree! Not one more.
[This message has been edited by Spyderman (edited December 28, 1999).]