ATF says NIBIN computer imaging can help reduce gun crimes across the country

[ma96782]

Note from the comments.

steve38591995
1 day ago
I remember when I bought a few handguns a few years back that I had a little bag that had two fired casings in it, the owner told me it was because Massachusetts requires any handgun sold in their state to have the casings submitted to the police. Recently though when I purchased handguns there was no empty casing in the box and someone told me that Massachusetts stop collecting these casing because it was worthless and did not work. Could someone from Massachusetts comment on this?

Steady130
1 day ago
I'm not from MA, but I'm from PA. Neighboring MD tried it. Millions of dollars later and not one crime solved. They abandoned it.

Aloha, Mark

 

[nobamaplease]

Changing the slide or maybe barrel would give different marks

Looks like they were looking at the firing pin and ejector marks, just change them instead of the whole slide

 

[titsonritz]

Looks like they were looking at the firing pin and ejector marks, just change them instead of the whole slide

Negative, the face of the slide that mates with back of the brass leaves a "fingerprint" on the brass when fired, do what you discribe and forensics will know what went down.

 

[ZigZagZeke]

Police your brass

Use a revolver.

 

[308]

….or just don't shoot people

 

[NeoBlackdog]

….or just don't shoot people

That's just crazy talk!

 

[Certaindeaf]

Didn't click but I wonder if those bi-metal stainless/aluminum cases yield unusable data.

 

[nwslopoke]

Keeping actual criminals in jail would be more effective. Teaching usable skills in school, like elective shops (electronics, advanced auto repair, computer coding) and teaching unbiased government classes.

As others have said, this system doesn't reduce gun crimes. It needs extra crimes committed to be mildly useful. Cameras, the internet and the legal system isn't reducing crime in major cities currently. An ineffective expensive computer system is just another payday for someone.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Detailed article (Oct 2021) on how Portland police use NIBIN FYI:

Exclusive: Behind-the-scenes of a Portland Police shooting investigation

KATU News got an exclusive look at some of what goes into investigating the hundreds of shootings Portland has seen this year. The police bureau gave us a behind-the-scenes look at them processing two guns officers found just this week. They showed us how they process the firearms and casings...

www.google.com

 

[The Heretic]

Looks like they were looking at the firing pin and ejector marks, just change them instead of the whole slide

I seem to recall some blurb somewhere that said it is rare that forensics is able to match these marks to a particular gun. Of course, it is also probably the case that 99.999% of guns, legally owned or not, would not be in any kind of registry for brass/etc.

IIRC I think it was S&W that participated in that Massachusetts registry of brass for each handgun it sold or sent out a fired case with the gun? I am too lazy to google it.

 

[Boboclown]

Trying to understand the use of the word "reduce" in the title of the Article.

If the computer is used to ID shell casings found at the scene of a crime...then the crime has already been committed.
Nothing to reduce there....
Andy

Its supposed to help them catch someone faster (it won't as we all know). Depending on your views of crime reduction; part of reducing crime is deterrence. The first part of it is they need to get caught quick then everyone else will realize they'll get caught quick as well.

However, this is BS as the casing will only tell you what gun it was fired out of. Which is useless unless you have the gun, and on top of that the person who did it. There's also a high potential for false positives, especially in guns that are made in batches. This isn't a new thing, its been a thing since the late 20s.

 

[nwslopoke]

I don't like how crime fighting is turning out. The last person with the gun did all the crimes linked to it. Maybe the owner in which it was stolen from. Thieves and murderers can't be held accountable. Well, not while home and business owners can pay into the court system.