California Bill to Identify Gun Traffickers Brings Brady Campaign to San Pablo Tomorrow on Anniversary of Martin Luther King Spe

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Griffin Dix, Ph.D.

Tomorrow, August 28 is the anniversary of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s historic "I Have a Dream" speech. Many of the Brady Million Mom March Chapters across the country are observing Aug. 28 by staging "Lie-Ins" to draw attention to illegal gun trafficking.

In California, we have a particular purpose--to garner support for AB 1471 (Feuer), pending in the state legislature, which would mandate an inexpensive and proven technology to help law enforcement identify gun traffickers and straw purchasers, as well as solve gun crimes. We will be at Contra Costa College in San Pablo, at Noon, dressed in black, will lie on the ground to symbolize the victims of gun violence in Richmond, Oakland and other Bay Area cities, including the seven Contra Costa College students that have been killed by gun violence since 2003.

According to the Carole Johnson, President of the West Contra Costa Chapter of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the goal of the demonstration is to make the public aware of illegal gun trafficking. Said Johnson: “We need the public and the media to always ask the question: ‘Where did the gun come from?’ Our students and citizens are not safe at school or at home from random, senseless, or gang-related gun violence.”

AB 1471, the Crime Gun Identification Act of 2007

This bill now in the California legislature would require that new models of semiautomatic handguns, sold after January 1, 2010, be equipped with "microstamping" technology. When the semiautomatic handguns are fired the firing pin and other internal parts of the guns imprint tiny numbers onto the cartridge casings. Police can use these numbers to quickly identify and link shell casings found at a crime scene to the individual semi-automatic handgun from which it was fired and the person who bought the gun.

If a gun trafficker repeatedly buys guns for criminals and teenagers who cannot legally buy a gun themselves, the numbers on the cartridge casings would enable police to identify the gun trafficker who bought the guns.

AB 1471 will:
1) help law enforcement solve handgun crimes,
2) help reduce gang violence, and
3) help reduce gun trafficking of new semiautomatic handguns.