State Scraps Handgun Ballistics Database After 15 Years

PIKESVILLE, Md. (AP) -- The state of Maryland is scrapping a 15-year effort to build a database of ballistic "fingerprints" on hundreds of thousands of handguns.

The Baltimore Sun reported Sunday that the system, enacted in 2000, never solved a single case.

The law required gun manufacturers to fire every handgun sold in Maryland and send the spent casings to authorities. State police collected the casings at their headquarters in Pikesville and built a database of ballistic "fingerprints" that could be used to solve crimes.

But the system faced technical difficulties despite a $5 million investment over the years.

The legislature voted to kill the program earlier this year, and the accumulated casings could be sold for scrap.