I believe Jillette first spoke this truism after the 9/11 attack, fearing (correctly) that the government's response would be a series of actions that infringe upon our liberties.
Just because a gun doesn't have a serial number, that doesn't mean it's untraceable. In fact, the ATF traces *any* gun used in a crime, then gives that gun its own case number to trace when it is used again in subsequent crimes. See the NIBIN program https://www.atf.gov/firearms/national-integrated-ballistic-information-network-nibin Each gun leaves its own "fingerprint" on the shell casing that is recovered. Now of course you can get around this by using an old-timey wheel gun with six shot capacity and are careful in unloading your empties far from the crime scene, but that is just not a factor in most shootings. And people aren't "printing" revolvers anyway, they're making knockoff Glocks - which still require you to purchase a "kit" that includes all the metal parts.
Guns *with* an original serial number may be lost, stolen or sold - and most have no originating NIBIN case information, so the system still relies on a gun's use in a crime before tracking can begin. So the serial number's existence is not paramount to finding the perpetrator, unless in the rare case where someone bought a gun legally and then used it to commit a crime. What percentage of cases does *that* constitute and how hard are those crimes to solve?
These "ghost guns" are really a non-issue - see the poster-child case in NYC where a 17-year old hoodlum killed a 16-year old girl. The hoodlum was arrested and the gun recovered: "Investigators did not find a 3-D printer in the house, and don't believe Ryan assembled it himself. They are still working to determine how he got it." Of course not - like a hoodlum is going to print his own gun and order the parts and assemble it, when he can just buy or steal a gun. Bottom line: the absence of a serial number didn't prevent solving the crime and wouldn't have prevented it in the first place.
Guns with a serial number cannot be reliably traced beyond the original purchaser from a FFL, barring those jurisdictions (they are fewer and fewer) that require handguns be registered. Many (most?) guns change hands several times via private sales, and there's no tracking those.
KDW's column dropped just after mine today. He goes into a lot of statistical detail, but comes to the same conclusion - the ghost gun brouhaha is political theater, nothing more.
I posited, years ago, that the advent of 3D printers would make gun control totally pointless, because, given enough market incentives, an enterprising crook could set up a basement gun shop. There's been no incentive in that direction (yet), because commercially manufactured guns are easier for crooks to get via crooked ways.
The vast majority of people who use guns in crime have prior felony records, meaning that they couldn't purchase a gun from a dealer. Meaning that, as you note, the serial number provides no utility in finding the perp.
This is part of the "universal background check" gambit that has only recently gone quiet. In order for such a scheme to work, there'd have to be universal registration - something most Americans oppose (including many who say they support UBCs). Any effort to institute a UBC protocol would invariably backdoor universal registration - unless it was just more theater, which is certainly a possibility.
Bottom line, this isn't about reducing crime, it's about reducing gun rights.
So once again, a bad guy does a bad thing with a gun and all of us law-abiding citizens get punished. Being that it's NYC, that kid is already back on the streets without bail.
Understood and agreed. The specific example here isn't what the Feds are making hay over - it's the 80% lower receivers that are currently being sold for finishing with consumer grade CNC machines.
Not that these are being used in crimes, but such facts don't matter here - it's the combination of rights rescission and the appearance of acting tough on crime.
You are a fine writer, and I always appreciate it. "Society is to blame" is all the rage. From the "Dead Bishop on the landing" sketch by Monty Python, "It's clear that society is to blame!", to which the perp replies "It's a fair cop." Most unsuccessful folks share the fault of blame finding, usually with those closest, because it's less work. Thanks again Peter!
Just because a gun doesn't have a serial number, that doesn't mean it's untraceable. In fact, the ATF traces *any* gun used in a crime, then gives that gun its own case number to trace when it is used again in subsequent crimes. See the NIBIN program https://www.atf.gov/firearms/national-integrated-ballistic-information-network-nibin Each gun leaves its own "fingerprint" on the shell casing that is recovered. Now of course you can get around this by using an old-timey wheel gun with six shot capacity and are careful in unloading your empties far from the crime scene, but that is just not a factor in most shootings. And people aren't "printing" revolvers anyway, they're making knockoff Glocks - which still require you to purchase a "kit" that includes all the metal parts.
Guns *with* an original serial number may be lost, stolen or sold - and most have no originating NIBIN case information, so the system still relies on a gun's use in a crime before tracking can begin. So the serial number's existence is not paramount to finding the perpetrator, unless in the rare case where someone bought a gun legally and then used it to commit a crime. What percentage of cases does *that* constitute and how hard are those crimes to solve?
These "ghost guns" are really a non-issue - see the poster-child case in NYC where a 17-year old hoodlum killed a 16-year old girl. The hoodlum was arrested and the gun recovered: "Investigators did not find a 3-D printer in the house, and don't believe Ryan assembled it himself. They are still working to determine how he got it." Of course not - like a hoodlum is going to print his own gun and order the parts and assemble it, when he can just buy or steal a gun. Bottom line: the absence of a serial number didn't prevent solving the crime and wouldn't have prevented it in the first place.
Guns with a serial number cannot be reliably traced beyond the original purchaser from a FFL, barring those jurisdictions (they are fewer and fewer) that require handguns be registered. Many (most?) guns change hands several times via private sales, and there's no tracking those.
KDW's column dropped just after mine today. He goes into a lot of statistical detail, but comes to the same conclusion - the ghost gun brouhaha is political theater, nothing more.
https://www.nationalreview.com/the-tuesday/the-ghost-in-the-machine-gun
I posited, years ago, that the advent of 3D printers would make gun control totally pointless, because, given enough market incentives, an enterprising crook could set up a basement gun shop. There's been no incentive in that direction (yet), because commercially manufactured guns are easier for crooks to get via crooked ways.
The vast majority of people who use guns in crime have prior felony records, meaning that they couldn't purchase a gun from a dealer. Meaning that, as you note, the serial number provides no utility in finding the perp.
This is part of the "universal background check" gambit that has only recently gone quiet. In order for such a scheme to work, there'd have to be universal registration - something most Americans oppose (including many who say they support UBCs). Any effort to institute a UBC protocol would invariably backdoor universal registration - unless it was just more theater, which is certainly a possibility.
Bottom line, this isn't about reducing crime, it's about reducing gun rights.
So once again, a bad guy does a bad thing with a gun and all of us law-abiding citizens get punished. Being that it's NYC, that kid is already back on the streets without bail.
Understood and agreed. The specific example here isn't what the Feds are making hay over - it's the 80% lower receivers that are currently being sold for finishing with consumer grade CNC machines.
Not that these are being used in crimes, but such facts don't matter here - it's the combination of rights rescission and the appearance of acting tough on crime.
You are a fine writer, and I always appreciate it. "Society is to blame" is all the rage. From the "Dead Bishop on the landing" sketch by Monty Python, "It's clear that society is to blame!", to which the perp replies "It's a fair cop." Most unsuccessful folks share the fault of blame finding, usually with those closest, because it's less work. Thanks again Peter!
Thank you :)