AB 1471

AB 1471 or AB 1471 Crime Gun Identification Act of 2007 is legislation passed by the California State Senate on September 6, 2007 and then by the California State Assembly on September 10, 2007, with votes of 21–17 and 43–29 respectively. ["Microstamping Legislation Approved by California State Legislature." Coalition to Stop Gun Violence Press Release. 10 September 2007. [http://www.csgv.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=muLYJ7MMKrH&b=2768811&ct=4406131] Press Release]

It was then signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on October 13, 2007, becoming the first legislation of its kind to enact Firearm microstamping. ["Governor Schwarzenegger Signs Historic Crime-Fighting Legislation Into Law." Coalition To Stop Gun Violence Press Release. 14 October 2007 [http://www.csgv.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=muLYJ7MMKrH&b=2768811&ct=4515013] Press Release]

California's "unsafe firearm" laws, which include AB 1471, do not apply to any firearms used or purchased by any law enforcement agency. [Cal. P.C. § 12125(b)(4)]

Purpose

AB 1471 changes California definitions of "unsafe handgun" and also requires that:

"7) Commencing January 1, 2010, for all semiautomatic pistols thatare not already listed on the roster pursuant to Section 12131, itis not designed and equipped with a microscopic array of charactersthat identify the make, model, and serial number of the pistol,etched or otherwise imprinted in two or more places on the interiorsurface or internal working parts of the pistol, and that aretransferred by imprinting on each cartridge case when the firearm isfired, provided that the Department of Justice certifies that thetechnology used to create the imprint is available to more than onemanufacturer unencumbered by any patent restrictions. The AttorneyGeneral may also approve a method of equal or greater reliability andeffectiveness in identifying the specific serial number of a firearmfrom spent cartridge casings discharged by that firearm than thatwhich is set forth in this paragraph, to be thereafter required asotherwise set forth by this paragraph where the Attorney Generalcertifies that this new method is also unencumbered by any patentrestrictions." [California Legislation "Crime Gun Identification Act of 2007" AB 1471. [http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_1451-1500/ab_1471_bill_20070711_amended_sen_v96.html Legislation] ]

US National Research Council Study

The United States National Research Council released a report on March 5, 2008 that concluded that a national database of ballistic markings is unworkable and that there is not enough scientific evidence that, "every gun leaves microscopic marks on bullets and cartridge cases that are unique to that weapon and remain the same over repeated firings". [United States National Research Council, March 5, 2008 "Report Advises Against New National Database of Ballistic Images" [http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12162] ]

References