Oct 17, 2002 3 min read

White House press secretary Ari Fleischer misfired again Tuesday in saying that President Bush is unconvinced of the accuracy of firearms “fingerprinting.” In response to a recent push to arm law enforcement with a national database that registers the unique markings of guns, Fleischer dismissed its effectiveness in thwarting crime.

“How many laws can we really have to stop crime, if people are determined in their heart to violate them no matter how many there are or what they say?” Fleischer said.

Firearms fingerprinting might not have stopped the Beltway sniper from launching an initial attack, but it just might have aided law enforcement in tracking down this serial killer. The same technology that Bush is unconvinced of its accuracy has been used to confirm the linkage between the 11 shootings that have left nine people dead. And it is the same technology used daily in courtrooms throughout the nation to link weapons to crimes and aid in convicting the culprits.

Politics, not technology, is the motivation behind President Bush’s reluctance to pursue a national database. Gun lobbyists, including the powerful National Rifle Association, resist any attempt to control or register guns., saving such a database would infringe upon gun owner’s privacy.

How, we can’t imagine. The government isn’t asking for the gun owner’s fingerprints, and last we knew guns were inanimate objects incapable of invoking civil rights. Similar databases are already used in two states, New York and Maryland.

With a ballistic database, gun makers would be required to file into a law enforcement database the distinct markings that each gun leaves on a test-fired shell casing. According to the Associated Press, a July 2001 report by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms found that even the limited computerized ballistic fingerprints currently available had produced during the preceding 15 months 8,800 matches linking 17,600 crime scenes.

This information alone doesn’t solve crimes or place a particular gun in the hands of a suspect but it does provide valuable leads.

Following Fleischer’s statements, White House officials attempted to soften the initial sentiments and said the ATF would be asked to study the technological and feasibility issues involved in creating and maintaining such a system.

Public demand often can move government just as effectively as lobbyists. Write to U.S John Murtha, P.O. Box 780, Johnstown, PA 15907-0780 and U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, 2188 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515, and tell them to push for firearms fingerprinting.