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Maryland guts gun-control ‘ballistic fingerprints’ program after zero hits in 15 years

Andrew Blake - Washington Times | Published on 2/10/2022
Maryland has quietly ended a requirement that firearms manufacturers fire their handguns before being sold and submit the “ballistic fingerprints” to state authorities after the program failed to provide investigators with unique data in 15 years.

The Responsible Gun Safety Act of 2000 was intended, in part, to provide police investigators with a database of bullet fragments and shell casings to help trace the ownership of handguns used in crimes in the state. Maryland State Police collected and cataloged hundreds of thousands of casings and fragments at a cost of millions of dollars over the past 15 years.