California has had a microstamping law on the books in some form or fashion since 2007, but there’s never been a single microstamped handgun offered for sale in the state (or anywhere else, for that matter).
The original iteration of the law required gun makers to put a unique set of characters in two places on semi-automatic handguns; the firing pin and on the inside of the gun’s barrel. That unique code would be stamped on every round of ammunition fired from the pistol, allegedly helping police track down guns used in crime.
In 2020 the state revised the law to require microstamping in one location, but also added a twist to the statute: for every new microstamped model approved by CalDOJ for the state’s handgun roster, three older models would be removed. The legislature also mandated that beginning on January 1, 2028, gun sellers will be prohibited from selling any semiautomatic handgun unless it has microstamping… and if CalDOJ has determined that microstamping is both viable and commercially available.
Well, now California Attorney General Rob Bonta says the technology is viable, and his office is moving towards enforcing that 2028 deadline.
The California Department of Justice’s (DOJ) investigation found that microstamping components installed in semiautomatic pistols regularly produce microstamps on spent cartridge cases discharged by these firearms, including after sustained or repeat firing. The investigation was led by DOJ’s Bureau of Forensic Services, performed in consultation with relevant legal and subject matter experts, and included input from stakeholders, who were invited to provide written comments relevant to DOJ’s technological viability investigation.
“My office’s investigation into the technological viability of microstamping components has found that this technology is viable,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Microstamping technology could help law enforcement match cartridges found at crime scenes directly to the firearms they came from. Today, my office released a report outlining the findings of our investigation in an effort to provide appropriate transparency as to the basis of our determination.”
… In the report, DOJ outlines the findings of the investigation, including:
- Engraved firing pins consistently leave legible microstamps on spent cartridge cases.
- In many tested firearms and ammunition types, microstamping components can reliably imprint all data needed to identify the firearm.
- Even incomplete microstamps can yield useful leads for solving and prosecuting gun crimes.
- Using partial microstamps is equivalent to using partial fingerprints, license plates, or firearm serial numbers as investigative leads.
This fall, DOJ will work to provide written guidance on performance standards for entities engaged in the business of producing microstamping components. Starting early next year, DOJ will start accepting applications for licensure of entities to engage in the business of producing microstamping components that meet these performance standards.
Bonta’s report satisfies the first prong of the state’s two-prong test for microstamping. His office now has until July 1, 2027 to issue a report on the commercial availability of microstamping; specifically whether “microstamping componentsare available at commercially reasonable prices from licensees producing microstamping components and/or whether ‘options of microstamping-enabled firearms are readily available for purchase’ in California.”
While Bonta’s report does acknowledge a “range of concerns” about microstamping, including that “it may be fairly easy to defeat the goals of microstamping technology if individuals with criminal intent simply remove and file down the microstamping mark on the firing pin in a manner analogous to the illegal obliteration of firearm serial numbers,” Bonta claims that’s not “directly relevant” to determining the viability of the technology. And the AG completely ignored the most obvious way for criminals to thwart the technology: using stolen guns. Microstamping might be able to help investigators connect shell casings to a particular firearm, but tracing that gun will only lead back to its last commercial transfer.
Bonta’s report also fails to mention that firing pins can be swapped out, which not only enables criminals to defeat the technology but raises a host of problems for legal owners. What happens if a microstamped firing pin breaks and needs to be replaced? Bonta’s report on the viability of the technology doesn’t say, but you know that anti-gun Democrats aren’t going to make it easy (or legal) to simply swap out one firing pin with another.
It’s possible that by the time Bonta releases his report on the commercial availability of microstamping the California law requiring the technology will have been struck down.
In Boland v. Bonta, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction after concluding that the Unsafe Handgun Act’s prohibition on new handguns without a chamber load indicator, magazine disconnect mechanism, and “microstamping” technology likely violates the Second Amendment. That case is now pending in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and should be resolved before 2028.
Hopefully, the law will be struck down. If not, the legal firearms market will be disrupted far more than the illicit market, and many commonly owned (and commonly sold) pistols will be off-limits to the state’s lawful gun owners.
Editor’s Note: Radical leftist politcians are doing everything they can to hamstring our right to keep and bear arms.
Help us hold these petty tyrants accountable for their unconstitutional actions. Join Bearing Arms VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
Read the full article here
