On June 6, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed new gun legislation into law. Credit: Darren McGee/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul.
More than 10 years after it was first proposed, New York has become the second state in the U.S. to enact a law requiring semiautomatic pistols manufactured and sold in the state to be equipped with microstamping technology. New Jersey is now also considering a bill first proposed last year that would require the adopting of microstamping by firearms manufacturers.
According to Todd Lizotte, an engineer who holds the patent for microstamping, the method places intentional codes linked to the serial number of a firearm by means of an “optimized laser micromachining” process. These codes are formed as micro-embossing structures, which come into contact with a cartridge that is cycled through the firearm and ejected when it is fired.
For at least a century, the science of firearm and tool mark identification has relied on striations on cartridge casings caused by tooling marks that are randomly formed. Examiners categorize these striations looking for matches between the components that created the marks and the recovered firearm. However, nearly 50% of firearms used in violent crimes are not recovered at the crime scene, requiring the analysis to be processed and logged into evidence files or imaged into databases for future comparison.
Microstamping takes this accepted practice a bit further by imprinting markings on the tip of a firing pin—inclusive of a unique alphanumeric or geometric code that identifies the make, model and serial number of a firearm. Law enforcement could then recover bullet casings at crime scenes and turn to a database that would indicate which gun fired the round and where that weapon was last sold by a licensed firearms dealer.
In the passed New York bill, however, it’s unclear who would maintain the database of serial numbers on recovered shell casings to firearms.
The proposed New Jersey version, Senate Bill 1462, specifically states that the superintendent of NJ State Police will establish and maintain the database, and that it will be accessible by each law enforcement agency in the state.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy first proposed a comprehensive gun safety legislative package in April 2021. The package includes seven gun reform bills, including microstamping technology. Last week, officials in NJ worked with Brady: United Against Gun Violence to showcase a live demonstration of microstamping ahead of a vote on S1462/A2216.
If New Jersey passes a microstamping law, they will become the third state in the U.S. to do so.
New York’s version vs California’s version
Currently, New York and California are the only states with microstamping laws on the books. California passed its law in 2008, but has had an incredibly difficult time enforcing the law among gun manufacturers.
The law was intended to phase in the technology by requiring it in all new handgun models. So, rather than introduce new models, firearm manufacturers have continued to sell older designs grandfathered in.
Cognizant of this unintended loophole, New York’s law takes a different approach. It covers all newly manufactured handguns, not just new models—meaning gunmakers would only be able to bypass the rule until they depleted existing stock.
(California is trying to fix its flaw with another law that would gradually whittle down the list of noncompliant handguns approved for sale by removing three older models for every new, microstamp-equipped model put into the market, starting July 1.)
Christian Heyne, vice president of the gun control group Brady, told the Associated Press New York alone sees monthly sales of nearly 10,000 firearms that could eventually fall under the law.
“The ripple effect of being able to force the industry to use this technology could have dramatic impacts across the country,” said Heyne.
Whatever changes happen won’t come quickly. New York envisions a slow roll-out for its new law.
State officials will spend six months investigating whether microstamping is as technologically viable as its supporters claim. If the answer is “yes,” the state has given itself four years to set up regulations. After that, dealers who sell firearms that violate the law could face fines or the loss of their license.
In 2008, California courts ruled microstamping was technologically possible and reasonably affordable, at a cost of $3.00 to $10.00 per gun. Meanwhile, the National Shooting Sports Foundation says microstamping costs $200 per gun, and the gun lobby has continued to argue that the costs and challenges of adopting the technology are insurmountable.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.