Dianne Feinstein

About the author: Dianne Feinstein is a Democratic senator from California.

Every firearm leaves unique markings on discharged bullets and shell casings. Law enforcement agencies can use these markings, called ballistic fingerprints, to identify the gun from which the bullets came, and, eventually, track down the owner of that gun. However, just as a suspect's fingerprints must be on file for fingerprints found at a crime scene to be of any use, so too must the ballistic fingerprints of a gun be recorded before the gun is used to commit a crime. The federal government should pass legislation requiring the ballistic fingerprints of all newly manufactured guns to be entered into a national database that will be available to law enforcement agencies throughout the country.

Imagine if a technology existed that could help law...