Rethinking Ballistic Fingerprinting

Ballistics experts have become crime-fighting stars in the Beltway sniper case, where they linked most of the bullets to a single gun through their distinctive markings. But the frustrations encountered in trying to find the sniper have sparked calls, by this page among others, for a computerized national database of bullet and cartridge-case markings for all guns sold in the U.S. The potential for solving crimes through such databases seems breathtaking. But another look at the science involved has convinced us that first, the government must get an authoritative judgment on how feasible the project really is. There is no point in setting up a system that might fail.

Read About It: New York Times

POSTED: Wednesday, November 20, 2002