smackababy
Lifer
- Oct 30, 2008
- 27,024
- 79
- 86
You're right its not a perfect "solves everything" solution, but it could be a decent tool for law enforcement among the others they have.
Also, a criminal using guns to commit murder knows not to use the same gun over and over to commit multiple crimes. The technology absolutely does exist for authorities to be able to tell the same gun (therefore likely the same criminal) is being used, thereby linking seemingly unrelated crimes together. I say do whatever is technically possible to make this even more likely, so that committing crimes with the same gun becomes an increasing guarantee of getting caught.
I like tech that only lets a weapons legit owner fire a weapon as well. Again, not for every gun, but for when it makes sense, why not?
Sometimes they can match the bullets in multiple crimes. They are going by the markings of the recoverable slug which is from the barrel. Each time a gun is fired, that changes, even if just a tiny amount. It is entirely possible for a groove making a mark in the slug to be worn down to the point it no longer leaves a mark, thus making the bullet not an exact match (which it probably never is, similar to DNA).
If doing whatever is technically possible infringes upon the rights of everyone, then no, you don't do it. Police doing random house searches without a warrant would certainly catch more criminals and is technically possible. Should they be allowed to do that? It makes sense!
As far as technology only allowing the owner to fire it, I am not sure we even have reliable technology for that. If we have some kind of special grip that sequences DNA instantly to only allow the registered owner to use it, fine. However, if it takes any kind of time to authenticate that is longer than it takes me to pull the trigger, it is worthless when I would need a gun.
If a stolen one had the serial number on it then it can lead investigators to the gun owner who may be able to provide information on the criminal that stole the gun. Even if the owner doesn't know the thief it can provide a link to an area where a criminal is familiar with or to another association that would help investigators. Sometimes it takes just a missing link to advance a case.
Most criminals don't have the thought or time to really clean and cleanse a gun. They typically just toss them away while trying to get away.
True, but if I am going to buy a gun to commit a crime, it is far likely I am going to buy one that is stolen, rather than go to the local gun store and fill out the appropriate paperwork. And, I might even make the extra investment to get one with the serial numbers removed.
If you are trying to argue that criminals are stupid as proof we need some kind of special 'fingerprinting' technology in guns and a database to keep said information along with users, I don't have much to say about that.
