IV 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 731 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that mandates imposed 

on manufacturers requiring inclusion of unproven and unreliable technology in firearms is costly and punitive, and the prohibition of firearms 

without such features is an infringement on the rights of citizens under 

the Second Amendment. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 16, 2016 

Mr. LAMALFA submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 

mandates imposed on manufacturers requiring inclusion 

of unproven and unreliable technology in firearms is costly and punitive, and the prohibition of firearms without 

such features is an infringement on the rights of citizens 

under the Second Amendment. 

Whereas California has implemented a law requiring firearms 

manufacturers to micro laser-engrave a gun’s make, 

model, and serial number on two or more internal parts 

of each semiautomatic pistol so that, in theory, the information is imprinted on the cartridge casing in two locations when the firearm is fired; 


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2 

•HRES 731 IH 

Whereas other States and the District of Columbia are considering similar mandates; 

Whereas based on the current state of this nascent technology, it is impossible to microstamp a firearm in two 

locations and have the required identifying information 

imprinted on the cartridge casing when fired; 

Whereas the scientific literature concludes there is no existing 

microstamping technology that will reliably, consistently, 

and legibly imprint the required identifying information 

from the tip of the firing pin of a semiautomatic pistol 

onto the cartridge casing it fires; 

Whereas one study found that the impressions were not decipherable nearly 50 percent of the time; 

Whereas the holder of the patent for the technology was a 

coauthor of peer-reviewed study that concluded, ‘‘legitimate questions exist related to both the technical aspects, 

production costs, and database management associated 

with microstamping that should be addressed before wide 

scale implementation is legislatively mandated’’; 

Whereas a subsequent study noted the use of expensive scanning electron microscope (SEM) technology still failed to 

solve the problems associated with microstamping; 

Whereas the microstamping process is costly and time-consuming, and threatens the employment of thousands in 

the firearms industry; 

Whereas the passage of legislation requiring its use would 

raise the cost of legal firearms by well over $200 per gun 

for both law-abiding citizens seeking to exercise their 

Second Amendment right and for United States law enforcement personnel; and 


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•HRES 731 IH 

Whereas manufacturers have publicly stated it is impossible 

for any manufacturer to comply with the provisions of 

the California law which are invalid, that cannot be enforced, and that will not contribute to improving public 

safety: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that— 

3 (1) mandates imposed on manufacturers requir4 ing inclusion of unproven and unreliable micro5 stamping technology in firearms is costly and puni6 tive; and 

7 (2) the prohibition of firearms without such fea8 tures is an infringement on the rights of citizens 

9 under the Second Amendment. 

Æ 


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