Press Release

(New York, NY) This morning, gun control advocates called for New York State to close a glaring loophole in its ballistic fingerprinting law. This loophole means that NYS would not be able to identify the DC sniper rifle or its owner despite the existence of a state wide ballistic fingerprinting law.

"Today, New Yorkers Against Gun Violence calls upon Governor Pataki, Senate Majority Leader Bruno and Assembly Speaker Silver to use the special session of the legislature that is scheduled for November to expand the state’s ballistic fingerprinting system to include images of shell casings and bullets from rifles and rounds from shotguns. Only by doing so would the system be of assistance to law enforcement should an incident like the DC sniper shootings occur in New York State," said Andy Pelosi, Executive Director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence.

Currently, handgun manufacturers who sell to dealers in New York are required to transmit shell casings to dealers for every handgun sold to dealers in the state. These dealers in turn must send the shell casing to the New York State Police for data imaging once the handgun has been sold. A comprehensive ballistic fingerprinting system will assist law enforcement across the state in identifying important leads that can help reduce the intrastate gun trafficking problem.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, along with law enforcement agencies in different cities around the country continue to reap the benefits of ballistic fingerprinting as an important crime fighting tool to trace the origin of guns used in crimes.

Richard Aborn, a member of the board of directors of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence added, "New York State led the way in establishing ballistic fingerprinting and it is time for it to do so once again by closing this glaring loophole. It is incumbent upon the legislature and the Governor to give law enforcement the best tools possible to continue the fight against crime and terrorism."

Alfredo Valentin, VP of Communications and board member of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, whose 17-year-old son Derek was killed by an illegal .25 caliber handgun stated "Ballistic fingerprinting will be a witness to crime who will not be afraid to testify."

The heinous acts of the DC area sniper and the fact that rifles and shotguns are becoming the weapon of choice of criminals in some places should move the Governor and legislators to act. (In Buffalo, rifles and shotguns were among the top 10 most frequently traced crime guns in 2000). Comprehensive ballistic fingerprinting is a vital tool for law enforcement and should be the law in New York State.