Database Used to Track California's Interstate Shooter

[mike bell]

Database Used to Track California's Interstate Shooter
3/15/2004


Investigators with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) were able to determine that the same gun likely was used in a series of I-580 shootings in California thanks to the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network Program (NIBIN), the Contra Costa Times reported March 5.

Using the nationwide database, firearms experts were able to determine that all eight vehicles shot at on Interstate 580 on Feb. 23 were struck by the same caliber weapon.

California Highway Patrol Sgt. Wayne Ziese said the shooter is believed to be someone who is upset over a personal relationship or with an employer, "something that caused this person to take his rage out against eight innocent victims during an evening commute."

NIBIN uses bullets and casing to determine a link between open crime cases and firearms. The system was created in 2000 when the ATF merged its ballistics program with the FBI's.

"It's a system that uses specialized equipment to image and compare crime-gun evidence," said Nina Delgadillo, an ATF special agent in Dublin.

[Briman]

"cough" bullsh"cough"it!

A $10 set of dial calipers would have been enough to figure out the caliber of the bulets used.

This is just a publicity ploy for the F-troop to get more funding and allow for more intrusive and unconstitutional tactics to be used up to and including defacto registration of firearms.

[Coastie]

This press release or whatever it was, is nonsense. As Briman said, the information on the 8 cars could as easily have been gathered using a caliper and common sense. It probably wasfor that matter. I really don't have a problem with information gathered at crime scenes being data based, it actually makes sense to do so and to share it. Where I run into problems with it is when they attempt to use it as a device which is no more than defacto registration. A round fired from every gun sold complete with shell casing is what the want, and that is registration no matter how you slice it.

[eldeguello]

Using the nationwide database, firearms experts were able to determine that all eight vehicles shot at on Interstate 580 on Feb. 23 were struck by the same caliber weapon.

To "determine that all eight vehicles were struck with the same CALIBER weapon", all you'd have to have are the BULLETS!! Anyone with a dial caliper could make this determination, with no need for any kind of database, or even much "expertise"!! Hell, you wouldn't even need such a database to determine that all the bullets were fired from the SAME weapon, if you have the bullets. And without the bullets, you could not determine ANYTHING!! This is just more anti-gun B.S. propaganda!!