I used to work in the gun business. It's a business. Nothing more, nothing less. It is not something I'm proud of, nor am I ashamed of the person I've become from being involved in it many years ago. I've received, and continue to receive a LOT of abuse for even saying I was in the gun business-- from the Progun side of the aisle in most cases, because I've pledged myself to using my knowledge from working in that industry to help those of the Gunsense movement become even more knowledgeable about the industry they are at odds with, when it comes to guns and gun laws.
That, in and of itself, makes me a traitor to the 2nd Amendment, a "gungrabber", and unpatriotic--in the mind of Tea Party members, Libertarians, the GOA, the NRA, the GOP, and Republicans in general.
This battle for reasonable gun laws is a struggle for what is right, what is timely, and technology.
I tend to think of myself as 'amused' by these verbal attacks I've received for choosing Gunsense. You can quote me. I'm amused by Progun. I refuse to sit quietly by, and have been known to share a few choice verbal exchanges on Twitter, which I hope keeps you entertained. It makes me happy to know that my following has grown through these trials and tribulations. Yet, it doesn't change the reality of my life, my former occupation, where I live, the threats I've received from Progun, the fear I don't feel when it comes to such things as those threats grow from the Molon Labe crowd.
 |
| One of the many, and I'm sure not the last |
I refer to them as the Moron Labe crowd, because by picking the Battle of Thermoplyae, and the story of The 300,-- it was probably not the most intelligent choice of battle cries when you get right down to it.
Life is NOT a Gerard Butler movie, as brilliant as they are--but I digress.
"Nuts" would have been better suited for a whole slew of reasons.
It's January now, and the year is 2014. Smith & Wesson and Ruger have formally announced their withdrawal from the California semi-automatic pistol market, based on the new California Law, covering "Handgun Safety, Functionality, and Testing Requirements", including Microstamping.
The law itself, is not new and was signed back in 2007, by then Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Under Penal Code § 12125 "No handgun may be manufactured or sold to the public in California unless it is of a make and model that has passed required safety and functionality tests and is approved for publication in the Department of Justice’s official list of handguns certified as safe for sale in California. Any person who manufactures, imports into the state for sale, sells, gives, or lends an unsafe handgun is guilty of a misdemeanor"[1], --which suit me just fine!
It's not fine with Smith & Wesson and Ruger, to the tune of a formal *Declaration* filed by Michael Fifer of Ruger, in his attempt to claim that Microstamping (love it!), places an "undue economic burden for the manufacturer"[2], when in fact, it would place absolutely NO economic burden on either Ruger or Smith & Wesson. Claiming that there is "no workable microstamping technology today, and Ruger believes that California's microstamping regulations make compliance impossible."[3] within the Declaration doesn't make it so, yet this is a Progun tactic used over and over and over again.
Whine about it,-- if you don't get your way!
Wow.
Guns are a business. You can't cry in business. You can't claim something doesn't work because you don't want to do it! Which is what both Ruger and Smith & Wesson mean to do. So far, they are the only two manufacturers that have balked at this not-so-new-but-now-enforceable California law that applies to ALL manufacturers[4] of semi-auto pistols, made after May17, 2013.
Can you dig it?
I knew that you could!
The Progun industry has had seven years to dispute Microstamping technology, based on its research and patenting. They continue making propaganda claims of maybes-ifs-and we're certain that offer zero proof of debunking Microstamping technology, which in fact increases Cycle-of-Fire verification to 96.8%, with immediate point-of-origin accuracy that is unparallelled in ballistic technology. This is science, not conjecture. But in today's world, there are many people who want to thrust America back into an age full of Tricorns and rebellion against Microstamping technology, which does not impinge their on their Freedom nor violates in any form or fashion--their 2nd Amendment Rights!
Not one iota!
Yet, they scream "Tyranny!".
The America Bar Association has reviewed Micorstamping technology from a legal standpoint and has approved of it fully,-- as it enhances the legal means of identifying point-of-origin of a gun, thereby lowering gun crime on a whole. This eliminates contacting the manufacturer, to find out what FFL dealer received the crime gun as a wholesale acquisition, and where it was transferred as a wholesale or retail disposition. They can go right to the FFL dealer, which when it comes to solving a gun crime, where every second counts--instead of looking through a pile of 4473's to find that exact 4473 you are looking for, which can be quite time consuming in a nation that has 310 million firearms.
It's time to make things easier for Law Enforcement, and reduce the tide of straw purchases and illegal gun transfers and trafficking by the common citizen, who utilizes Private Party transactions as a tool to deal in guns, without taking responsibility for who's hand those guns may actually end up in. The profit margin from Private Party transactions, *without responsibility* is what makes Private Party transactions so lucratively attractive to Progun.
The America Bar Association urges "Federal, State and Territorial Goverments to enact laws"[5] that require use of Microstamping, on all newly manufactured semi-auto pistols. Why would they do this?
Because it is the responsible thing to do.
Because it is prudent for America.
Because it works!
Because it increases Cycle of Fire Technology indicators & gun crime accuracy![6][7][8]
So, it's time. It's time to look into the benefits of Microstamping. It is cost effective. No matter what Progun, Ruger, or Smith & Wesson claims about excessive cost burden on the manufacturer, it pays for itself in a very short time. What doesn't pay for itself is Smith & Wesson stating emphatically that they will not sell semi-automatic pistols in California to consumers or Law Enforcement. That is not much of a threat, based on the fact that Law Enforcement will buy equipment elsewhere. They have no compulsion for allegiance when it comes to arming their officers.
Law Enforcement will upgrade, with or without Smith &Wesson.
How does all this fit into Newtown and Sandy Hook?
Based on my research, it does.
That comes with the next installment of "Microstamping, Newtown and Riverview Gun Sales: What should have taken place long before Sandy Hook: Part II".
Right now, it's time for those of Gunsense to wrap their heads around Microstamping technology and let it settle in your craw.
Microstamping technology's time has come. It's time for Gunsense to understand how it works and how they can best use the recent adoption of Microstamping manufacturing requirements of semi-auto pistols in California law to it's advantage, and get the word out.
No matter how much Progun distorts the truth about Microstamping, it works and it is here to stay.
As an aside, the Microstamping research information and reference supplied aren't for me.
They're for people who need to read it. They'll call you a liar once you know how it works. Then the real challenge of your Gunsense knowledge begins. They'll challenge whatever informational source you provide. They'll dispute it with nonsense and try and to convolute the information you know to be facts,--while disputing it with Progun nonsense, heaped in denial.
They'll fear you as much as they fear the California Handgun Safety, Functionality, and Testing Requirements.
Just remember one thing about who you are when that takes place.
Ruger and Smith & Wesson didn't really dispute the Microstamping technology with proof.
They can't.
They just lip-synced the NRA and NSSF, which advocates no Microstamping technology at all. Their rebuttal research of Microstamping has not convinced the courts at all, so they are reduced to bogus threats, which excludes them from the California semi-automatic pistol marketplace.
Ruger just said they would not comply, gave excuses, bailed on the consumer base, threatened Law Enforcement with abandonment of product and repairs should they enforce the Microstamping law requirement as it stands. They even have the audacity to threaten California to rescind the Microstamping manufacturing law, by letting thirty semi-automatic pistol types fall off the safety roster, which seems like an extremely childish demand to me.
Smith & Wesson response left little to speculate, other that they deemed their products "the best with the latest innovations"[9]
I guess these "latest innnovations" don't include NanoTagging AKA Microstamping ejected shell casing for gun crime technological advancements.
Smith & Wesson makes a lot more than thirty semi-automatic pistols.
That is a whole heap of whining and crying for grown men and women to do in the 21st Century,--in this age of technological advancements that secures additional safety within American society.
Todd Lizotte: Co-Inventor of Microstamping explains the process in his own words.
Microstamping Research Papers:
1) Forensic Firearm Identification of Semiautomatic Handguns Using Laser Formed Microstamping Elements: 2008, Todd E. Lizotte, Orest Ohar
2) Ballistic Imaging: 2008 The National Academies Press
3) Extracting Ballistic Forensic Intelligence: Microstamped Firearms Deliver Data for Illegal Firearm Traffic Mapping – Technology: 2009 Orest P. Ohar, Todd E. Lizotte
4) What Micro Serialized Firing Pins Can Add to Firearm Identification in Forensic Science: How Viable are Micro-Marked Firing Pin Impressions as Evidence?: 2006 David Howitt PhD, Frederic A. Tulleners, Michael T. Beddow
5) NanoTag Markings From Another Perspective: 2006 George G. Krivosta
6) Objective analysis of toolmarks in forensics: 2013 Taylor Nicole Grieve
7) Ammunition Marking: Small Arms Survey, 2011 Giacamo Persi Paoli
Footnote references:
[1] California Firearms Laws 2007, pg.34
[2] Declaration of Michael Fifer, filed Jan. 28, 2014, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, Pena vs. Lindley, pg. 2, Paragraph 5, lines 24-25
[3] Declaration of Michael Fifer, filed Jan. 28, 2014, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, Pena vs. Lindley, pg. 2, Paragraph 6, lines 27-28
[4] California Department of Justice, Division of Law Enforcement, Bureau of Firearms, Certification of Microstamping Technology pursuant to Penal Code section 31910, subdivision (b) (7) (A)
[5] America Bar Association, Adopted By The House Of Delegates, August 9-10, 2010, Recommendation
[6] Forensic Firearm Identification of Semiautomatic Handguns Using Laser Formed Microstamping, Todd E. Lizotte and Orest Ohar, 2008 SPIE Annual Optics & Technology Conference, Optical Technologies for Arming, Safing, Fuzing, and Firing IV Conference, illustration-pg. 7
[7] Forensic Firearm Identification of Semiautomatic Handguns Using Laser Formed Microstamping, Todd E. Lizotte and Orest Ohar, 2008 SPIE Annual Optics & Technology Conference, Optical Technologies for Arming, Safing, Fuzing, and Firing IV Conference, illustration-pg. 8
[8] Forensic Firearm Identification of Semiautomatic Handguns Using Laser Formed Microstamping, Todd E. Lizotte and Orest Ohar, 2008 SPIE Annual Optics & Technology Conference, Optical Technologies for Arming, Safing, Fuzing, and Firing IV Conference, illustration-pg.13
[9] Smith & Wesson® Addresses California Microstamping Legislation: January 23, 2014
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