A new gun identification technology was the subject of a hearing at the state Capitol Tuesday. It’s called microstamping, and allows semiautomatic handguns to be traced from their spent shell casings.

Advocates for the technology tout it as a crime solving tool, but James Fendry, a former Milwaukee police officer and the director of Wisconsin Pro-Gun Movement, is a skeptic. “You go to the cops on the street, and you talk to them, and in this case you have to go to the cops in rough areas, and they’ll tell you what I’m telling you: it doesn’t make a difference them (criminals).” Fendry told members of a state Senate committee. “No matter what kind of laws we have, it’s not going to have any impact.” [Read more...]