Townsend Pledges Tougher Gun Control Laws
Lt. Governor Wants To Expand Ballistic Fingerprinting
POSTED: 11:34 a.m. EDT October 18, 2002
BALTIMORE -- Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend said that she would seek legislation to expand Maryland's ballistic fingerprinting program to include regulated legal assault rifles, her first specific pledge to toughen the state's gun-control laws.
"We need to do ballistic testing on all assault weapons and automatic weapons," Townsend, the Democratic candidate for governor, told a meeting of The Baltimore Sun's editorial board on Thursday, saying she was responding to the series of sniper shootings in the Washington suburbs.
Townsend's call to expand ballistic fingerprinting beyond handguns to include the 45 types of assault rifles regulated by Maryland is based on the recommendations of Col. David B. Mitchell, the state superintendent of police.
"We feel it would be helpful to focus our investigative efforts," Mitchell said Thursday. "It's reasonable, it's sensible and its time is now."
Maryland is one of two states to have begun a ballistic fingerprint database, which keeps records on the shell casings of handguns sold in Maryland. When police find a shell casing at a crime scene, they can check its markings against the casings in the database and, if there's a match, link the gun to its original owner.
In the Washington-area sniper shootings, police have been unable to compare shell casing evidence because the state's database doesn't include weapons such as hunting rifles or assault rifles, Mitchell said. Although police don't know the specific type of weapon being used, an assault rifle is a possibility.
Mitchell said he recommended expanding the ballistic fingerprinting program to assault rifles because that type of weapon is regulated by the state like handguns, including requiring applications and a seven-day waiting period. By contrast, Townsend and Mitchell said it would be too restrictive to include more traditional hunting rifles or shotguns.
Gov. Parris N. Glendening has called for an expansion of ballistic fingerprinting and even the creation of a national database -- something Townsend did not endorse Thursday.
A spokesman for Townsend's opponent, Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., said the Baltimore County congressman would support expanding ballistic fingerprinting if it is found to be effective.
Ehrlich made headlines last month when he singled out the program as one he would like to review if he is elected, questioning its effectiveness. Authorities have used it to match only two guns to crimes but have not charged anyone.
"What Bob has said in the past is if this program works, then it should be expanded," Ehrlich spokesman Paul E. Schurick said. "If it doesn't work, let's find out why not and fix it."
The National Rifle Association issued a statement Thursday criticizing the reliability of ballistic fingerprinting. "It defies reasons why a criminal or terrorist intent on violence would not avail himself of a firearm never subjected to 'fingerprinting,' altered into anonymity or imported from another country," the group's statement said.
Lt. Governor Wants To Expand Ballistic Fingerprinting
POSTED: 11:34 a.m. EDT October 18, 2002
BALTIMORE -- Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend said that she would seek legislation to expand Maryland's ballistic fingerprinting program to include regulated legal assault rifles, her first specific pledge to toughen the state's gun-control laws.
"We need to do ballistic testing on all assault weapons and automatic weapons," Townsend, the Democratic candidate for governor, told a meeting of The Baltimore Sun's editorial board on Thursday, saying she was responding to the series of sniper shootings in the Washington suburbs.
Townsend's call to expand ballistic fingerprinting beyond handguns to include the 45 types of assault rifles regulated by Maryland is based on the recommendations of Col. David B. Mitchell, the state superintendent of police.
"We feel it would be helpful to focus our investigative efforts," Mitchell said Thursday. "It's reasonable, it's sensible and its time is now."
Maryland is one of two states to have begun a ballistic fingerprint database, which keeps records on the shell casings of handguns sold in Maryland. When police find a shell casing at a crime scene, they can check its markings against the casings in the database and, if there's a match, link the gun to its original owner.
In the Washington-area sniper shootings, police have been unable to compare shell casing evidence because the state's database doesn't include weapons such as hunting rifles or assault rifles, Mitchell said. Although police don't know the specific type of weapon being used, an assault rifle is a possibility.
Mitchell said he recommended expanding the ballistic fingerprinting program to assault rifles because that type of weapon is regulated by the state like handguns, including requiring applications and a seven-day waiting period. By contrast, Townsend and Mitchell said it would be too restrictive to include more traditional hunting rifles or shotguns.
Gov. Parris N. Glendening has called for an expansion of ballistic fingerprinting and even the creation of a national database -- something Townsend did not endorse Thursday.
A spokesman for Townsend's opponent, Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., said the Baltimore County congressman would support expanding ballistic fingerprinting if it is found to be effective.
Ehrlich made headlines last month when he singled out the program as one he would like to review if he is elected, questioning its effectiveness. Authorities have used it to match only two guns to crimes but have not charged anyone.
"What Bob has said in the past is if this program works, then it should be expanded," Ehrlich spokesman Paul E. Schurick said. "If it doesn't work, let's find out why not and fix it."
The National Rifle Association issued a statement Thursday criticizing the reliability of ballistic fingerprinting. "It defies reasons why a criminal or terrorist intent on violence would not avail himself of a firearm never subjected to 'fingerprinting,' altered into anonymity or imported from another country," the group's statement said.