According to Firearm Chronicles
For the past seven years, no new model of handgun has been available for sale in the state of California, thanks to the state’s bizarre micro stamping law (which could soon be taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court) and its byzantine Roster of Certified Handguns that only allows new models to be sold if they come equipped with “micro stamping” technology. The biggest problem is that the micro stamping mandate simply can’t be met, in part because it requires a unique identifying code to be stamped on each shell casing in two locations as the gun is fired. It’s simply not technologically feasible, yet the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the law even though it amounts to a slow-motion gun ban.
See, not only have no new models of handguns been made available for sale in California since the micro stamping law took effect, handguns that have been available for sale have been pulled from the Roster of Certified Handguns if manufacturers make even the slightest design change. California’s Department of Justice considers any chance, no matter how small, to be a new model of handgun, and therefore the micro stamping requirements apply.
Some anti-gun lawmakers are concerned about what the Supreme Court has to say about the micro stamping law, and they’re pushing to change it, though I suspect gun owners won’t be happy with the supposed “fix.” This week, the California State Assembly approved AB 2847, which would tweak the law in a couple of ways. Here’s how NRA-ILA describes the bill:
A new law requiring “precursor parts” like unfinished frames and receivers to go through a background check takes effect this year, and while firing pins aren’t currently included in the law, they could be easily added, and likely will. That still doesn’t change the fact that there are legitimate reasons to swap out a firing pin, though it would render the micro stamping technology useless. How does California propose to deal with that reality? Are they going to make it illegal to replace a firing pin? Are they going to try to require people register their new firing pin with the State? It’s completely impractical and unrealistic to think that this will accomplish anything worthwhile.