The National Shooting Sports Foundation, trade association of the firearms and ammunition industry, has spent much of the last month in state houses across the country combating a flawed technology known as bullet serialization-the process by which each individual round of ammunition is laser-engraved with a unique serial number. NSSF, by cultivating a strong grassroots force of sportsmen and gun-owners, along with solid support and testimony from the nation’s leading ammunition manufacturers, has experienced tremendous success in tackling the ill-considered legislation, most recently in Maryland.Ammunition manufacturers have made clear that any attempt to place a serial number on each of the more than 10 billion rounds of ammunition manufactured every year in the United States would lead to bankruptcy.
“This is a significant legislative victory for our industry,” said NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane, referring to the Judiciary Committee’s decision to vote down Maryland’s bullet serialization bill (HB 517).
In defeating the bill, the House Judiciary Committee rejected the testimony of the vendor who holds the patent on this technology, Russell Ford of Ravensforge, a company that makes products to protect against damage from skateboards. During testimony before the committee, Maryland Delegate Michael D. Smigiel Sr. (R) chastised Ford, saying, “I hope that you never make a dime, sir,” referring to Ford’s sole-sourced patent on the flawed technology. Weighing-in on the criticism of the legislation was Maryland Delegate Christopher B. Shank (R), reminding committee members that the state “already has a ballistic ‘fingerprint’ system that doesn’t help solve crimes.”
Delegate Emmett Burns (D) who, apparently at Ford’s request, sent letters to state legislators across the United States urging them to introduce similar bullet serialization legislation in their states, sponsored the Maryland bill. “It is significant that while Delegate Burns encourages other states to pursue bullet serialization legislation he was unable to convince his own Maryland colleagues,” said Keane.
“Our industry remains optimistic that other state legislatures considering similar legislation will understand that is infeasible and impractical to put a serial number on each of the over 10 billion cartridges of ammunition manufactured each year in the United States, and any ammunition manufacturers that tried would go bankrupt in the process.”
In written testimony, NSSF discussed the root of its opposition to the ammunition-banning legislation: If manufacturers had to comply with bullet serialization, NSSF estimates that it would take over three weeks to manufacture what is currently produced in a single day. This massive reduction in ammunition would translate into substantially lower sales and profitability, and ultimately force major ammunition manufacturers to abandon the market. In turn, there would be a severe shortage of serialized ammunition and all consumers, including federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, would be faced with substantial price increases. Ammunition will go from costing pennies to several dollars per cartridge.
“Maryland joins several other states, most recently Hawaii, in recognizing that bullet serialization is not practical and simply bad public policy,” concluded Keane.
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