http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/04/27/BULLETS.TMP
SACRAMENTO
Panel OKs ID marks on bullets
Police would be able to trace ammo used in crimes in state
Christian Berthelsen, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Sacramento -- Legislation that would require handgun ammunition to carry identifying markings that could be used to trace spent rounds at crime scenes back to the person who purchased the bullets passed out of a state Senate committee Tuesday.
If the bill ultimately becomes law, California would become the first state in the nation to impose such requirements on bullet manufacturers. It has the support of law enforcement officials but is opposed by gun interests such as the NRA, bullet manufacturers and shooting enthusiasts.
The proposal would provide investigators with a huge leap forward in their efforts to trace ammunition at a crime scene to the person who fired it. Though ballistics testing enables police to connect a bullet to the gun that fired it, its use in investigations is limited because investigators need to recover both the gun and the bullet to confirm a match.
While bullets used in a crime may have been lost or stolen from their original purchaser, knowing who that person is will provide a starting point for investigators that they previously have not had, supporters say. Randy Rossi, the director of the firearms division at the state Department of Justice, likened it to "a license plate falling off a car when driven from a crime scene."
Noting that California homicides increased to 2,400 last year from 2,000 the year before -- with 45 percent unsolved -- law enforcement officials urged senators on the committee to vote for the bill. Nearly three-quarters of the state's homicides in 2003 were committed with a firearm.
"We're going to solve (more) crimes if this bill becomes law," Attorney General Bill Lockyer testified.
Opponents said the new requirement would impose difficult financial burdens on the high-volume, low-margin business of bullet manufacturing, raising the cost of ammunition and probably driving some companies out the state -- if not out of business altogether.
Lawrence G. Keane, the general counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, said the proposal would present bullet makers with a "Hobson's choice -- either comply and go bankrupt, or abandon the California market."
The bill, SB357 by Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Garden Grove, was passed by the Senate Public Safety Committee on a 4-2 vote along party lines. It still must be passed by both houses of the Legislature and be signed by the governor before it can become law.
It would require handgun manufacturers to mark bullets with unique identifiers, such as serial numbers. Those numbers would be used to track whom the bullets are sold to, including the name and address of the purchaser. The information would be maintained in an electronic database run by the attorney general's office.
The legislation applies only to handgun ammunition, not long guns. It also contains a provision that would require all bullets manufactured and sold in the state to carry the new identifiers by July 2007.
Dunn said that the far-off effective date would give people enough time to expend their existing supplies of ammunition but that there needed to be a firm date after which new supplies must be marked.
Sheriffs and police chiefs from several counties and cities, including Alameda County and Emeryville, also testified in support.
Lockyer likened the proposal to previous legislation that advanced law enforcement investigation efforts, such as funding for DNA labs. "The weighing of public benefits versus private rights tilts heavily in favor of the public benefits," he said.
Unless you mean the "loaded" operator? that was the same size as the TRP, just has a FLGR instead of a bull barrel, and the sights and finish are different as you know.
I love the internet. Thanks for the hot tip on the ammo, but there's a reason I buy at Big 5 (where I work) and it deals with the numbers 1, 9, 8 and 5 on my ID 
