Gun Facts Due 11/19/08

Fact 1: Most crime guns are stolen property, which makes finding the original owner worthless.

Fact 2: "Firearms that generate markings on cartridge casings can change with use and can also be readily altered by the users. They are not permanently defined like fingerprints or DNA."

Fact 3: The same gun will produce different markings on bullets and casings, and different guns can produce similar markings. Additionally, the type of ammunition actually used in a crime could differ from the type used when the gun was originally test-fired -- a difference that could lead to significant error in suggesting possible matches.1

Fact 4: The rifle used in the Martin Luther King assassination was test fired times under court supervision, and the results showed that no two bullets were marked alike. “Every test bullet was different because it was going over plating created by the previous bullet.”

Fact 5: "The common layman seems to believe that two bullets fired from the same weapon are identical, down to the very last striation placed on them by the weapon. The trained firearms examiner knows how far that is from reality."

Fact 6: Even weapons misclassified as “assault weapons” (common in the former Federal and California "assault weapons" confiscations) are used in less than 1% of all homicides.

Fact 7: Most “assault weapons” have no more firepower or killing capacity than the average hunting rifle and “play a small role in overall violent crime”.

Fact 8: Firearms that can be “readily converted” are already prohibited by law.

Fact9: Only 8% of criminals use anything that is classified (even incorrectly) as an "assault weapon", though less than 1% claimed to use these firearms when committing crimes.

Fact 10: Criminals are as likely to carry single shot (derringer-type) handguns as they are to carry "assault weapons".