Let the debate rage on

I see there is an effort underway to mandate the use of laser-engraved firing pins on all new guns.  The idea is that when fired, the firing pin would leave an individual microscopic mark on the shell casings, usually found all over the ground at a crime scene.  The police could then examine the marks on the casings and know which gun fired the shots and who owns it even if the gun itself was never found.  Cops 1; Bad Guys 0.  Sounds like a good idea...on paper.


But nothing in the real world is ever that easy.  First flaw in the plan:  Revolvers don't eject their shell casings.  Only semi-automatics do that.  Second, just as people buy and sell things like TVs and iPhones and computers (think Craig's List and eBay), they buy and sell guns, too.  Even if there was an ironclad way to document every free-market gun sale the problem of gun violence would still exist.  That's because bad guys steal guns or buy them from other bad guys (who probably stole them themselves). They're not too concerned with "paper trails". 


Knowing who owned a gun 5 years ago and who used it in a crime yesterday are two very different things.  I myself have sold several guns over the years.  I was very careful who I sold them to, of course.  Most recently when I moved into an apartment I sold several to a Plano police detective.  The thought of having to defend myself in court against a crime one of those guns was somehow later involved in sounds very unappealing.  And expensive and time consuming, too.


All such a law would do is drive up the price of pre-engraved-era guns on the black market.  Naturally the gun-control groups are all for this proposal, and the NRA-types are all against it.  While something needs to be done to get guns out of the hands of bad guys, I don't think this is the right plan.  Nice try.

Any suggestions on what would work?


S