An Illinois legislator has proposed a law that she apparently actually believed would enable bullets to be traced back to their point of sale via serial numbers stamped on them by manufacturers.
Opponents, who included anyone with a thimble-full of common sense, said the unintended result would be a nightmare for police, responsible gun owners and the justice-starved families of murder victims.
State Rep. Sonya Harper, D-Chicago, proposed the bill in August, KMOV reported. She said she did not intend to curtail the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens, only to determine how the bullets do the bad things they do:
“We’re not trying to get rid of responsible gun owners’ guns. We just want to know how the guns and the bullets are getting into the hands of our youth and causing senseless harm and murder on our streets.”
Several other state lawmakers and Chicago aldermen have given their support to the measure. Proponents, with more zeal than grammatical clarity, said the serial numbers would enable authorities to run a serial number on a computer and know within seconds “who and where the bullet was purchased.”
Critics pointed out the futility of stamping numbers on objects that routinely shatter or deform on impact. According to Bearing Arms, the cartridge case is the only ammunition component that could be serialized, and even doing that would be ineffective — or worse.
Many weapons, included those most often chosen by criminals, do not expel cartridge casings and therefore would leave no evidence behind. That’s the “ineffective” part.
In the “or worse” part, criminals could collect spent casings from firing ranges and scatter them at crime scenes, easily leading police on wild goose chases and perhaps resulting in the arrests of people who had never fired a weapon anywhere except within the safety of a range. The guilty meanwhile would go free and police efficiency would drop through the pavement.
Casings can also be reloaded and used several times, meaning one serial number could be associated with up to half a dozen or more fired projectiles. New products now entering the market promise far greater durability.
And then there’s the probability that Illinois residents living close to the state line would simply purchase ammunition in other states.
In short, Harper and her supporters have decided to create a law without having the most basic technical knowledge of their subject. They might just as well have sent criminals a love letter promising them infinite opportunities to camouflage their activities, pin the blame on the innocent and frustrate the police.
When the already-high crime rate skyrockets in Harper’s district, will she blame herself or that evil old gun lobby? We shall see — unless the Illinois General Assembly comes to its senses and votes the ridiculous measure down.
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