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June 17, 2011

NSSF Responds to Bloomberg Microstamping Editorial


NSSF has submitted the following Letter to the Editor (New York Daily News) refuting claims made by Mayor Bloomberg and New York Attorney General Schneiderman in a firearms microstamping editorial they penned earlier in the week.  

To the Editor:

Mayor Bloomberg and Attorney General Schneiderman remain seriously mistaken in their support  of the flawed technology known as firearms microstamping (“Microstamping saves lives: Senate must resist gun lobby and pass crime-fighting bill ,” June 10, 2010). Three independent studies to examine the patented, sole-sourced concept of firearms microstamping have concluded that the technology should not be mandated without further study. This is a view shared by members of the firearms industry who have already called for federal legislation to fund such a study.   

Research results by  the University of California and the National Academy of Sciences echo those of an earlier independent, peer-reviewed study published by John Jay College of Criminal Justice Professor George Krivosta in the professional scholarly journal for forensic firearms examiners. Professor Krivosta proved that microstamping technology is unreliable, does not function as the patent holder claims and can be easily defeated in mere seconds using common household tools.  

Mandating firearms microstamping will raise the price of firearms by more than $200 and will significantly restrict the ability of firearms manufacturers to expand business in the Empire State.  Ultimately this will lead to a gun ban for all New Yorkers as these companies abandon the market altogether rather than pay the  cost-prohibitive  sums of money necessary to reconfigure their manufacturing and assembly processes.  Of course,  firearm owners and enthusiasts are not the only people who will suffer.  Taxpayers, after shelling out millions of dollars on a ballistic – imaging database that has failed to solve even one crime in its 10 year existence, will now have to foot the bill for much of the costs associated with microstamping, including scanning electron microscopes and patented software.

Today may be the age of CSI, but this concept isn’t ready for primetime. 

Sincerely,

Lawrence G. Keane

Senior Vice President and General Counsel

National Shooting Sports Foundation

The National Shooting Sports Foundation is the trade association for the firearms industry

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