Microstamping

In 2007, California became the first jurisdiction in the nation to enact legislation requiring firearm manufacturers to incorporate crime-solving microstamping technology in at least some firearms.

Microstamping technology causes a firearm to etch a unique microscopic code onto ammunition cartridge cases when the gun is fired that identifies the firearm’s make, model, and serial number. This technology could enable law enforcement to match cartridges found at crime scenes directly to the gun that fired them, similar to the way an automobile’s license plate may be used to identify a vehicle’s make, model, VIN, and registered owner.

Signed by then-Governor Schwarzenegger, California’s Crime Gun Identification Act of 2007 requires all newly developed models of semiautomatic pistols sold by licensed dealers in the state to be designed and equipped with microstamping technology.

The Crime Gun Identification Act stated that this requirement would go into effect as soon as the California Department of Justice certified that microstamping technology was available to more than one gun manufacturer unencumbered by any patent restrictions.¹ DOJ issued that certification in May 2013.² However, since this requirement only applies to new semiautomatic pistol models, the gun industry has obstructed this law (as well as other design safety requirements under California law) by simply refusing to introduce new semiautomatic pistol models for sale in California. Instead, the industry has sought to undermine the state’s public safety standards through litigation in state and federal courts, while simply continuing to sell new manufactures of older semiautomatic pistol models that do not incorporate modern safety or crime-solving advances.

Previously, California generally required newly developed semiautomatic pistols models to incorporate a microstamping mechanism in at least two places on the interior of the firearm. In 2020, California passed new legislation to address industry obstruction and ensure more handguns certified for sale and manufacture in the state come equipped with basic lifesaving consumer safety features as well as a microstamping mechanism.³ This law directed the California DOJ to remove three older, less safe semiautomatic pistol models from its roster of handguns certified for sale in California for every new certified microstamping model. This new law was intended to ensure that more commercially available handguns become fully compliant with California’s modern gun safety laws over time, and to ease compliance for the firearm industry by requiring new semiautomatic pistol models to microstamp ammunition cartridge cases from a single place on the interior of the firearm, instead of two places.⁴

In 2023, the California legislature passed a law further expanding the microstamping requirement. Beginning January 1, 2028, licensed firearms dealers will be prohibited from selling any semiautomatic handgun, unless it has been verified as microstamping-enabled, if the California DOJ has determined that microstamping is available.⁵ The law also prohibits anyone from modifying a microstamping-enabled handgun with the intent to prevent the production of a microstamp.⁶

For more information about California’s law requiring handgun models to meet basic consumer safety standards, see the Design Safety Standards in California section.

Ballistics Identification

In 2007, California adopted a law, effective January 1, 2009, authorizing local law enforcement agencies to enter representative samples of fired bullets and cartridge cases collected at crime scenes, from test-fires of firearms recovered at crime scenes, and other firearm information needed to investigate crimes into the U.S. Department of Justice, National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (“NIBIN”).⁷ The law also requires the California DOJ to develop a protocol for law enforcement agencies to submit this information to NIBIN.⁸

MEDIA REQUESTS

Our experts can speak to the full spectrum of gun violence prevention issues. Have a question? Email us at media@giffords.org.

Contact

1. Cal. Penal Code § 31910(b)(7)(A), 32000.[↩]
2. See Cal. Dept. of Justice, Firearms Bureau, Certification of Microstamping Technology Bureau of Firearms pursuant to Penal Code section 31910, subdivision (b)(7)(A) (May 17, 2013), at http://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/firearms/infobuls/2013-BOF-03.pdf.[↩]
3. See 2020 AB 2847.[↩]
4. Cal. Penal Code § 31910(b)(7) (effective until Jan. 1, 2024).[↩]
5. Cal. Penal Code § 27533.[↩]
6. Cal. Penal Code § 27534.[↩]
7. Cal. Penal Code § 11108.10(a).[↩]
8. Cal. Penal Code § 11108.10(b). In addition, in 2000, California adopted a law that required the Attorney General to conduct a study evaluating the feasibility and potential benefits of a statewide ballistics identification system. Cal. Penal Code § 34350. The Attorney General’s report, released to the public in January 2003, stated that automated ballistics fingerprinting systems were already assisting forensic experts using relatively small databases to compare cartridge cases recovered at crime scenes, and noted that the expansion of such databases to include hundreds of thousands of newly-manufactured firearms could potentially serve as a vital crime-solving tool. California Department of Justice, Feasibility of a California Ballistics Identification System (January 2003), available at: http://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/pdfs/firearms/pdf/03-013_report.pdf.[↩]