Microserialization

Or, Micro-stamping.

Rivrdog's sounding the alarm on this one. To sum it up, several state legislatures (Cogito Ergo Geek is saying twelve) have pending legislation with awfully similar language to give ammunition serial numbers, and basically register ammunition at the point of sale.

I'm not sure what the outcome is going to be. The bill introduced in Mississippi has already been killed in committee, but this is the most organized attack on gun owners via state legislatures that I've ever seen.

One of the questions is, "Who's behind it?" Most of the bills are worded almost identically. To me, this indicates that an anti-gun group drafted the language and provided it to various legislators to introduce in their respective states.

Just in case you're wondering why this is bad, there are two reasons: One, most of the bills call for an additional tax PER ROUND on ammunition to pay for the required state database tracking ammo sales. Two, this is a backdoor gun-registration scheme. If there are database entries detailing ALL of your ammunition purchases, anybody with access to the db can make a pretty good guess at what guns you own. And as the saying goes, there can't be confiscation without registration.

I've done a little more research into the bills (that I've been able to find online) in the interest of helping to move this discussion forward. Here is a list of bills, and most of their sponsors:

Arizona HB2833
Introduced by Representatives Garcia M, Lopez: Alvarez, Bradley, Campbell CL

California SB 997
Introduced by Senator Ridley-Thomas

Hawaii House Bill 2392
Hawaii Senate Bill 2020
Hawaii Senate Bill 2076
Hawaii House Resolution 82-07 (Carried Over from 2007)
Hawaii Concurrent Resolution 104-06 (Carried Over from 2007)
All Introduced by


Illinois House Bill 4258
Illinois House Bill 4259
Introduced by William Davis
Illinois House Bill 4269
Introduced by Monique D. Davis
Illinois House Bill 4349
Introduced by Naomi D. Jakobsson - Harry Osterman
Illinois Senate Bill 1095 (Carried Over from 2007)
Introduced by Sen. A. J. Wilhelmi - Emil Jones, Jr.

Indiana House Bill 1260
Introduced by

Maryland House Bill 517
Sponsored by Delegates Burns, Robinson, Anderson, Branch, Carter, Glenn, Harrison, Oaks, Stukes, Tarrant, and Walker

Mississippi Senate Bill 2286
Principal Author: Jordan
Additional Authors: Jackson (11th), Dawkins, Powell
*NOTE* Bill is currently (19 Feb 2008) dead in committee.

New York House Bill 6920 (Carried Over from 2007)
Introduced by M. of A. R. DIAZ
New York House Bill 7300 (Carried Over from 2007)
Introduced by M. of A. ORTIZ, R. DIAZ, JEFFRIES, LAFAYETTE, KOON, BENEDETTO, BROOK-KRASNY, BENJAMIN, DINOWITZ, CAMARA, SCHROEDER, CLARK,
FIELDS, BOYLAND -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. GOTTFRIED, MAISEL,
MARKEY, McENENY, MILLMAN, O'DONNELL, PHEFFER, TOWNS, WEISENBERG
New York Senate Bill 1177 (Carried Over from 2007)
Introduced by Sen. KRUGER
New York Senate Bill 3731 (Carried Over from 2007)
Introduced by Sen. ADAMS

Pennsylvania House Bill
Unavailable

Tennessee House Bill 3245
By Miller L
Tennessee Senate Bill 3395
By Tate

Washington House Bill 3359
By Representatives O'Brien, Williams, Flannigan, and Pedersen

These are all listed at ammunitionaccountability.org (h/t: Cognito Ergo Geek) . They seem to be a driving force behind all this legislation, but it's not obvious to me yet who's behind THEM.

At this point, I think it becomes a "follow the money" game - see if there are any anti-gun groups funding the above list of legislators' campaigns; try to see where ammunitionaccountability.org gets its funding. I'm not sure where to look for those pieces of data.

Of course, if you live in any of the states where this garbage has been introduced, contact your state legislators and let them know you oppose it. If they're in favor of it, also let them know that information regarding the funding BEHIND it is being dug up, and will be provided to their opponents in the next primaries and elections.

And if you live in a state that favors restrictive gun control, stock up on ammo NOW (like that's ever a bad idea)... anywhere these bills pass, ammo's going to get even more expensive than it already is.