I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2436
To conduct a study on the effectiveness of ballistic imaging technology and 
evaluate its effectiveness as a law enforcement tool. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 11, 2003
Mr. SMITH of Texas (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, and Mr. SCOTT of 
Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To conduct a study on the effectiveness of ballistic imaging 
technology and evaluate its effectiveness as a law enforce-
ment tool.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ballistic Imaging Eval-
uation and Study Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are the following: 
(1) To conduct a comprehensive study of bal-
listic imaging technology and evaluate design param-
eters for packing and shipping of fired cartridge 
cases and projectiles. 
(2) To determine the effectiveness of the Na-
tional Integrated Ballistic Information Network 
(NIBIN) as a tool in investigating crimes committed 
with handguns or rifles. 
(3) To establish the cost and overall effective-
ness of State-mandated ballistic imaging systems 
and the sharing and retention of the data collected 
by the systems. 
SEC. 3. STUDY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 
shall enter into an arrangement with the National Re-
search Council of the National Academy of Sciences, which 
shall have sole responsibility for conducting under the ar-
rangement a study to determine the following: 
(1) The design parameters for an effective and 
uniform system for packing fired cartridge cases and 
projectiles, and for collecting information that will 
accompany a fired cartridge case and projectile and 
be entered into a ballistic imaging system. 
(2) The most effective method for projectile re-
covery that can be used to collect fired projectiles for
entry into a ballistic imaging system and the cost of 
such recovery equipment. 
(3) Which countries are employing ballistic im-
aging systems and the results of the systems as a 
tool in investigating crimes committed with hand-
guns or rifles. 
(4) The total cost, including startup costs, oper-
ating costs, and outlays for personnel and adminis-
tration, to Federal, State, and local jurisdictions for 
the implementation of a ballistic imaging system. 
(5) The estimated yearly cost for administering 
a ballistic imaging system, the storage of cartridge 
cases and projectiles on a nationwide basis, and the 
costs to industry and consumers of doing so. 
(6) How many revolvers, manually operated 
handguns, semiautomatic handguns, manually oper-
ated rifles, and semiautomatic rifles are sold in the 
United States each year, the percentage of crimes 
committed with revolvers, other manually operated 
handguns, or manually operated rifles as compared 
with semiautomatic handguns or semiautomatic ri-
fles, and the percentage of each category of such 
crimes on record in the NIBIN system. 
(7) Whether in countries where ballistic identi-
fication has been implemented, a shift has occurred
in the number of semiautomatic handguns and semi-
automatic rifles, compared with revolvers, other 
manually operated handguns, and manually operated 
rifles that are used to commit a crime. 
(8) A comprehensive list of environmental and 
nonenvironmental factors, including modifications to 
a firearm, that can substantially alter or change the 
identifying marks on a cartridge case and projectile 
so as to preclude a scientifically reliable comparison 
between specimens and the stored image from the 
same firearm from being admissible as evidence in a 
court of law. 
(9) The technical improvements in database 
management that will be necessary to keep pace with 
database growth and the estimated cost of the im-
provements. 
(10) What redundant or duplicate database sys-
tems exist, or have existed, the ability of the various 
systems to share information, and the cost and time 
it will take to integrate such systems. 
(11) Legal issues that need to be addressed at 
the Federal and State levels to codify the type of in-
formation that would be captured and stored as part 
of a national ballistic identification program and the
sharing of the information between State systems 
and NIBIN. 
(12) What storage and retrieval procedures 
guarantee the integrity of cartridge cases and pro-
jectiles for indefinite periods of time and insure 
proper chain of custody and admissibility of ballistic 
evidence or images in a court of law. 
(13) The time, cost, and resources necessary to 
enter images of fired cartridge cases and fired pro-
jectiles into a ballistic imaging identification system 
of all new handguns and rifles sold in the United 
States and those possessed lawfully by firearms own-
ers. 
(14) Whether an effective procedure is available 
to collect fired cartridge cases and projectiles from 
privately owned handguns and rifles. 
(15) Whether the cost of ballistic imaging tech-
nology is worth the investigative benefit to law en-
forcement officers. 
(16) Whether State-based ballistic imaging sys-
tems, or a combination of State and Federal ballistic 
imaging systems that record and store cartridge 
cases and projectiles can be used to create a central-
ized list of firearms owners.
(17) The cost-effectiveness of using a Federal, 
NIBIN-based approach to using ballistic imaging 
technology as opposed to State-based initiatives. 
SEC. 4. CONSULTATION. 
In carrying out this Act, the National Research 
Council of the National Academy of Sciences shall consult 
with—
(1) Federal, State, and local officials with ex-
pertise in budgeting, administering, and using a bal-
listic imaging system, including the Bureau of Alco-
hol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Federal 
Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Forensic 
Services at the California Department of Justice, 
and the National Institute for Forensic Sciences in 
Brussels, Belgium; 
(2) law enforcement officials who use ballistic 
imaging systems; 
(3) entities affected by the actual and proposed 
uses of ballistic imaging technology, including manu-
facturers, distributors, importers, and retailers of 
firearms and ammunition, firearms purchasers and 
owners and their organized representatives; 
(4) experts in ballistics imaging and related 
fields, such as the Association of Firearm and Tool 
Mark Examiners, projectile recovery system manu-
(2) The term ‘‘handgun’’ has the meaning given 
the term in section 921(a)(29) of title 18, United 
States Code. 
(3) The term ‘‘rifle’’ has the meaning given the 
term in section 921(a)(7) of title 18, United States 
Code. 
(4) The term ‘‘cartridge case’’ means the part 
of a fully assembled ammunition cartridge that con-
tains the propellant and primer for firing. 
(5) The terms ‘‘manually operated handgun’’ 
and ‘‘manually operated rifle’’ mean any handgun or 
rifle, as the case may be, in which all loading, un-
loading, and reloading of the firing chamber is ac-
complished through manipulation by the user. 
(6) The term ‘‘semiautomatic handgun’’ means 
any repeating handgun which utilizes a portion of 
the energy of a firing cartridge to extract the fired 
cartridge case and chamber the next round, and 
which requires a pull of the trigger to fire each car-
tridge. 
(7) The term ‘‘semiautomatic rifle’’ has the 
meaning given the term in section 921(a)(28) of title 
18, United States Code.
(8) The term ‘‘projectile’’ means that part of 
ammunition that is, by means of an explosive, ex-
pelled through the barrel of a handgun or rifle.
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