May 2013
It's the end of June now, and nothing else has happened with this. This article explains it.
"NSSF WEIGHS LEGAL CHALLENGE . . . Last Friday the California Dept. of Justice suddenly announced that the technology to microstamp firearms is now unencumbered by patents. As a result, a law passed in 2007 becomes effective immediately. Every newly introduced model of semiautomatic handgun in the state now must have a microstamped firing pin that, theoretically, would accurately and reliably engrave a firearm's identification information on each cartridge casing fired from the pistol. The law was signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger in 2007 but never implemented because the technology was, and remains, patented. NSSF is exploring legal options to challenge the erroneous and politically motivated certification, which is in essence a gun ban since manufacturers cannot comply with the law due to the extra cost of at least $200 it will add to the price of each firearm. Even the patent holder has acknowledged his concept functions unreliably and requires further study, and should not be legislatively mandated at this time. The flawed and unreliable nature of this technology has been noted in independent peer-reviewed studies, including one by the National Research Council and another in the professional journal of the Association of Firearms and Tool Mark Examiners. As a crime-solving tool, microstamping is suspect because it does not reliably and legibly imprint the information on the casing, and the shallow marks on the firing pin wear through normal usage. Also, microstamping can be easily circumvented by criminals by filing down the imprinted code using common household tools or swapped out for unmarked pins. Read the Monterey Herald story and NSSF fact sheet."
