California enacted a law in 2007 which deemed that any new model of semiautomatic pistol to be an “unsafe handgun” unless it included microstamping technology. By its terms, however, this law did not become effective until private patents on microstamping technology had expired. This past Friday, California authorities certified that these patents had expired so that the law is now effective. A copy of the bulletin from the California Attorney General announcing this is attached.
When a pistol with microstamping technology is fired it imprints on the cartridge case the make, model, and serial number of the pistol. Microstamping has been promoted as a tool to aid law enforcement, as cartridges left at crime scenes could be traced back to the pistol that was used, but has been criticized as being ineffective in achieving its aims and expensive. California is the first and only state to require microstamping.
The California law does not apply to pistols that are already on California’s “Roster of Handguns Certified for Sale in California,” which can be found here (click on “Find / All” to see the complete roster), so only new pistol models or models which have been removed from the roster must have microstamping technology in order to be sold in California.