Just Outside Of America...

Words fail me.

I've seen some idiotic proposals in my time, but this one is unique. Not the worst perhaps, but damn - serial numbers on bullets?

Let me try to break this down for the uninitiated:

A bullet is a projectile made of (usually) lead, copper, steel or a combination of any or all of those metals. It is propelled by very hot high pressure gas down a barrel which is made of either chrome-moly steel or stainless steel. In other words a metal much harder than the bullet is made out of.

Between the hot, high pressure gas & the friction of the bullet traveling down the barrel the bullet tends to deform a bit. The rifling engraves the bullet while the gas will tend to melt the base a little. To what degree deformation occurs depends upon the metal used in the bullet. A pure lead bullet will suffer more than a copper jacketed one.

& that's all before the bullet hits anything.

Many bullets are designed to deform in a certain way when they hit certain media - such as soft fluid filled tissue. The idea is the expansion transfers more energy over a wider area with less risk of over penetration of the target. Short version is the bullet does more damage to the person you're shooting. These bullets deform & fragment starting at the nose of the bullet.

So the sides of the bullet are going to be engraved with the rifling; the base of the bullet gets slightly melted from the hot gas used to propel it & the nose expands & fragments when it strikes something.

Just how the hell do they think a serial number will be legible after all that??? A bullet has it rough to begin with. Now they expect it to have recorded information after it does its job? I can't think of a comparable analogy to adequately express the ridiculousness of the notion.

The practical effects of this? Bullet owner registration at the bullet owners expense.

There's going to be a "fee" for keeping records & it'll be paid by the bullet buyer. It'll also be paid by the bullet seller which will be passed on to the bullet buyer. Finally the bullet makers don't do this for free, so the increased cost will be passed on to....you guessed it - the bullet buyers.

Paying for their own damned registration system.

& let's not forget that some bullet makers are going to figure that the Cali market isn't worth the effort. Decreased availability will equal increased prices. The heathen socialists in the Cali legislature haven't figured out a way to repeal the laws of supply & demand.

But on to a brief fisking of a brief article about a law that's brief in logic.

"A state Senate committee approved a proposal Tuesday to put a serial number on every handgun bullet made or sold in California.
The measure cleared the Senate Public Safety Committee on a 4-2 vote over opposition from manufacturers, firearms dealers and sport shooters."

A California Public Safety Committee approving a gun control law? That's almost as funny as the ATFU being assigned to the Justice Department.

"The technology exists to laser-cut bullets with a number that police could use to trace who purchased bullets used in crimes, said Democratic sponsor Sen. Joseph Dunn."

The technology to engrave a serial number into a bullet has existed for close to 100 years. Let's say 50 for mass produced bullets. But it'll suffer the same problems as a bullet so engraved 50 or 100 years ago would - slim chance of being able to read the damned number after it is fired.

But Dunn. That's a name that every Californian should remember. & every oppurtunity you get you should shun him, publicly or privately.

This won't help cops trace the owner of bullets used in crimes. It will create more hassle for gun owners who want to buy their bullets legally. It simply won't be an effective crime fighting tool as the bullet is subject to much deformation through its intended use. It will be effective in making things more difficult for gun owners who don't intend anyone any harm, as all prior restraint based gun control laws are.

"Purchasers would pay up to a half a cent per bullet to fund record-keeping by the state Department of Justice. Vendors would pay up to $50 a year."

To start. That should be added or at least not forgotten. It'll start off as half a cent per bullet but once those heathens figure out what they're doing they'll use it to make bullets as expensive as possible.

But while that half cent may not seem like much to some (though Kim du Toit would shudder at such a notion) that doesn't include the hidden costs that will be passed along to the bullet buyers. I'd assume off the top of my head that it'll be closer to 1 to 2 cents per bullets more. & that's without the supply & demand thing discussed earlier figured in. & that's just to start. I have no doubt there will be a "fee" increase.

"We'll solve a lot of crimes if this becomes law,' said Attorney General Bill Lockyer."

Lockyer. If you're a Californian & you socialize or do business of any sort with that bastard then you might as well burn all your arms right now.

In theory it would seem logical that it would solve crimes. But that's only if the theory doesn't take into account the usual deformation that bullets are subject to in normal use. In theory passing a law requiring criminals to have their minds read by a cop would solve a lot of crimes - if it were possible. But mind reading just isn't a practical reality & neither is this scheme.

"If approved by the Legislature, the law would take effect in July 2007."

So a little over two years to stock up or make an escape attempt.

I have little faith that sanity will prevail & this bill will be voted down. I have less faith that the Head Rino In Charge of Cali will veto it once it lands on his desk.

Look, say what you will about this registration scheme or that registration scheme being okey dokey - but this will net every gun owner in Cali who doesn't have a few years worth of reserve practice ammo. Ammo registration is possibly the most effective means of registering gun owners. If you buy ammo then you will be registered. If you don't buy ammo odds are you don't practice enough to be more than a minimal threat.

A lot of people will think this is a harmless, though slightly inconvenient law. But there's much sinister potential in this - registration of bullet owners (i.e. gun owners) being one. A vehicle to make shooting cost prohibitive is another.

Again, the only reason I can possibly see to stay in Cali would be to set up resistance cells.

Posted by Publicola at April 28, 2005 03:13 AM