California's New Micro-stamping Law

California Assembly Bill 1471 (requiring micro-stamping of identifying information on spent cartridges from a pistol) has been signed in to law. As of January 1st, 2010, no new semiautomatic pistols may be sold in California without micro-stamping technology as an integral part of the firearm.

The applicable text of the bill:

(7) Commencing January 1, 2010, for all semiautomatic pistols that are not already listed on the roster pursuant to Section 12131, it is not designed and equipped with a microscopic array of characters that identify the make, model, and serial number of the pistol, etched or otherwise imprinted onto the interior surface or internal working parts of the pistol, and that are transferred by imprinting on each cartridge case when the firearm is fired.

This verbiage has been incorporated into California Penal Code 12126 (Unsafe Handguns).

Many of the fine folks listed on the sidebar have commented upon the utter idiocy of this bill as it pertains to crime prevention and crime solving. This is a gun ban/registration bill, pure and simple. What many folks have been asking about this bill is "Does it pertain to LEO's?" The answer to that is... No.

From California Penal Code 12125:

12125(b) This section shall not apply to any of the following:

12125(b)(4) The sale or purchase of any pistol, revolver or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person, if the pistol, revolver, or other firearm is sold to, or purchased by, the Department of Justice, any police department, any sheriff's official, any marshal's office, the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency, the California Highway Patrol, any district attorney's office, or the military or naval forces of this state or of the United States for use in the discharge of their official duties. Nor shall anything in this section prohibit the sale to, or purchase by, sworn members of these agencies of any pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person.

As you can see, what is good for the goose is not quite good for the gander.