On February 28, 2024 New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin’s office announced that provisions in a 2022 law have been allegedly met concerning so-called “microstamping” technology. In 2022, Governor Phil Murphy, D-NJ, signed into law P.L. 2022, c. 57., which put into statute several provisions governing and defining microstamping technology. As we’re aware, microstamping has not been a viable technology, with California’s similar law having not found on the market a single firearm with microstamp technology. It does not exist.
What is microstamping? According to statute in the Garden State, they define a microstamping component to be “a component of a firearm that will produce a microstamp on at least one location of the expended cartridge case each time the firearm is fired.”
The concept is that a firearm that expels a spent cartridge casing after a shot is fired, a unique identification number or mark would be imprinted on the casing. That number or mark would correspond with a given state’s handgun registry if one exists. New Jersey is a state with a handgun registry. Proponents of the measure allege this will help identify the owner of a firearm used in the commission of a crime. For states without registries, peace officers would have to rely on the same tracing tactics used with conventional serial numbers since a federal firearm registry is illegal.
Platkin’s release noted that “Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin today announced that, based on both live-fire testing results and existing peer-reviewed studies, microstamping technology is a viable means of matching an expended cartridge case to the weapon from which it was discharged.” There was no breakdown on how much of Platkin’s decision was weighted by “peer-reviewed studies” or actual concrete results. The law indicates that “[t]he investigation shall include, but need not be limited to, live-fire testing evidence” and that “upon designation of the first microstamping-enabled firearm, the examiner shall create a microstamp roster, which shall include each firearm so designated.”
There’s no indication on what firearm is the “first microstamping-enabled firearm,” so it’s not abundantly known how Platkin is able to say the technology is viable. Whatever firearm was used in testing is supposed to be on the roster. The make and model of the alleged first microstamping-enabled firearm has not yet been released.
Regardless of whether this is a speculative or corporeal finding, that has not stopped Attorney General Platkin from announcing the triggering of the rest of the statute. “This technology gives law enforcement an innovative tool to identify crime guns and bring perpetrators to justice,” said Attorney General Platkin. “Now that we have certified that this technology is viable, we urge gun manufacturers to adopt microstamping technology in their production facilities and apply for placement on New Jersey’s microstamping-enabled firearms roster.”
Noticeably absent from Platkin’s remarks about tracking such firearms are the many holes in his theory that this technology will help identify alleged crime guns.
For starters, there’s nothing that’s going to stop a person from filing off any microstamping component from any given arm, thus subverting the goals of having a trace registry. The law states that anyone who “willfully removes, damages, alters, or otherwise tampers with a microstamping enabled firearm to prevent or alter the production of a microstamp shall be guilty of a third degree crime.”
Someone intent on committing a crime with a firearm is not likely to be worried about defacing a microstamping-enabled component any more than they would be deterred from filing off conventional serial numbers. The compounding of criminal activity on top of more criminal acts is meaningless to the criminal element, and laws like these only affect the law-abiding.
Platkin and his cohorts also do not address that the majority of so-called crime guns are stolen or that crimes are not committed by the original purchaser of a given arm. Having a microstamp is only as effective as a serial number, which we’ve already seen post-1968, only to be minimally effective in tracing some firearms used in crime.
The law would force firearm dealers, much like the beguiled so-called “smart gun” law(s), to offer for sale a microstamping-enabled firearm once it is available on the market. The original 2002 New Jersey “smart gun” law exposed too much of the hand of the anti-gunners, and it outright prohibited the sale of any firearms that were not “smart” once the technology was considered viable. The failed law was revamped in 2019 and only required dealers to offer for sale and hold in inventory a firearm with the equipped technology rather than force the rest of the firearms off the market – yet.
It’s speculated that these types of provisions governing such technologies are only being put into place to eventually outlaw any other firearm not similarly equipped in the future. The 2002 smart gun law created a chilling effect, and only one alleged smart gun manufacturer – during the time the original law was in effect – had produced a product that resembled a smart gun, and it was deemed not viable as the firearm’s system was easily bypassed utilizing a magnet.
“In preparation for the opening of the microstamping roster application process in the next few months, Attorney General Platkin has named firearms expert Reinaldo Roldan as the State’s designated Microstamping Examiner,” Platkin’s release explained. “In that capacity, Mr. Roldan will administer the application process consistent with the standards and qualifying criteria issued by the Attorney General’s Office. Once a firearm is approved for inclusion in the microstamping roster, New Jersey gun retailers will be required to make available for sale at least one gun from the roster.”
AmmoLand contacted Scott Bach, the Executive Director of the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, to discuss Platkin’s announcement. “Microstamping is a failed idea that has been rejected by most states over the past few decades,” Bach said. “It can be easily thwarted by changing an inexpensive firearms part. Its sole value is to politicians looking for an excuse to ban self-defense tools from law-abiding citizens, by declaring all conventional ammunition illegal and requiring a useless technology that no one actually makes and has no real crime-solving value.”
Garden State firearm owners and dealers will have to see what comes next. The alleged technology is available, according to Platkin, but it still remains a mystery what firearm make and model comes standard with microstamping-enabled technology included. What is clear is that Platkin and Murphy’s hatred for firearms and civil liberties lives strong within the activation of this law. This is an administration hellbent on supporting any provision subverting constitutionally protected hardware and or activities.
About John Petrolino
John Petrolino is a US Merchant Marine Officer, writer, author of Decoding Firearms: An Easy to Read Guide on General Gun Safety & Use and NRA certified pistol, rifle, and shotgun instructor living under and working to change New Jersey’s draconian and unconstitutional gun laws. You can find him on the web at www.johnpetrolino.com on twitter at @johnpetrolino, facebook at @thepenpatriot and on instagram @jpetrolinoiii .