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Article: COPS NEED NEW TOOL FOR TRACING WEAPONS BALLISTIC FINGERPRINTING WON'T LEAD TO A NATIONAL GUN REGISTRY -- BUT IT WILL HELP SOLVE CRIMES.(OPINION)(Editorial)
- Article from:
- The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI)
- Article date:
- November 4, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Capital Newspapers. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Second Amendment guarantees Americans the right to keep and bear arms. It says absolutely nothing that would prevent the government from requiring gun manufacturers to record each weapon's ballistic "fingerprint."
Such fingerprints or "signatures" could be compiled in a national database to help law enforcement track weapons that had been used in crimes such as the sniper attacks in the Washington D.C. area. U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., has introduced a bill to do exactly that - and is running into an entirely predictable storm of protest from extremists in the pro-gun lobby.
When Maryland passed a similar law in 2000 - backers included the Maryland ...