1. I was in MD for part of that failed experiment. There was a grandfather clause that allowed an FFL to sell a firearm that they had in stock prior to the requirement going into law, with out the test case/firing.

   Only some guns could be sold in MD because only some manufactures were willing to do the test firing stuff and send the shells to the FFL.

   What it did mean was that ranges got much much cleaner. Nobody was willing to leave a single piece of brass behind for fear that some “bad guy” would pick up spent brass and just drop it at a crime scene.

   It wasn’t until years later that we learned that the technology just didn’t work.

   CA is still lusting after micro stamping. Something about wanting the firing pin to leave to micro stamps on every case.

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   1. They want it done on two places: one on the primer with the firing pin, and one on the base of the case via something on the breech face.

      It seems to me, both would be very easy to eliminate or mar beyond recognition. Or, you know, criminals would just start using revolvers instead of semi-autos.

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2. Glock did the same thing. I have the envelopes still, but the spent cases are in the coffee can with the other thousands of cases. Now, if I ever start reloading . . .

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   1. I cut down the number of cases ready to be reloaded to 12.5 gallons in buckets

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      1. Dang, I wish I had 12 5 gal buckets of shell casings. I really need to re-up my membership with the local rod and gun club. They had some legal issues after my membership lapsed and I didn’t re-up as it was unclear if they were ever going to open up again.

         My buckets of casings get processed quickly into:
         * I am reloading this
         * I will reload this soon
         * I want to get the dies and reload this
         * Hmm, this will become nice brass once I cast it (melt it down and pour it in my fair weather foundry)

         Right now all of the “I’m reloading” and “I will reload soon” buckets are empty and the ammo cans full.

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         1. >* I want to get the dies and reload this

            “I must get a gun chambered in X, in order not to waste this scant handful of oddball brass I scavenged at the club.”

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            1. I have a handful of 45-100 cases …. I plea the 5th

               3

            2. Don’t tempt me! All the 303 brass has me looking for a Lee Enfield from WWII.

3. It’s not entirely true that not a single case has been solved… There’s one I’m aware of, where a pistol stolen in one burglary was linked via this database to a double homicide/arson. The suspect may have gotten away with the murders had this link not been made.

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   1. Citation, please? I’m sceptical given that there is grave doubt that this “technology” works at all.

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      1. A Dateline or 20/20 episode goes into the details of the weapons match link, but I’m actively looking for a source in text. The case is the Jason Thomas Scott murders from 2008-2009.

         1. He got caught selling stolen weapons to an ATF informer according to what I found online

            1. Yep, but he was arrested only for burglary. There was no evidence linking him to murder except for the shell casings matching the weapon stolen from a residence that he previously robbed.

               If he disposed of the murder weapon, then without the casing database anything siezed during his arrest wouldn’t have been ballistically matched to the murders.

4. Kevin Baker dismantled this so-called technology pretty thoroughly here:

   https://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2005/01/why-ballistic-fingerprinting-doesnt.html

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