http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0CEFD9103AF937A25753C1A9649C8B63&scp=6&sq=forensics&st=cse
Ever since Calvin Goddard’s use of the comparison microscope to analyze the various markings on bullets and bullet fragments, ballistics forensics has provided critical aid to the police. Yet what initially sounds like an easy task – identify the marks on a bullet – can take days for even the most experienced criminalists. The answer is simple – bar code the bullets.
Kansas City inventor, Ivan Grow, recently patented what he believes will revolutionize the forensics field of ballistics: a gun that will imprint an individual bar code on each bullet it fires. The inside of the barrel of each of Mr. Grow’s guns contain a bar code stamp. As the bullet is propelled through the barrel of the gun, it is engraved with the bar code.
The bar codes themselves, Mr. Grow says, will be located onto an existing database of the current gun registry run by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. That way, police will be able to take the various bullets they find at the scene of the crime and identify both the bullet the gun it came from in a much more simplistic manner than by simply studying the random marks and grooves of the projectile. The bar codes are also stamped onto the bullets at least several times before leaving the barrel, making it easier to identify the bullets even if they should fragment. While this may not solve every gun crime in America, it’s a start.
8 comments:
Alex wrote a great summary on how bullets play a role in forensics. The topic was interesting and filled with information. Because individual bullets are stamped with a unique bar code, it will be easier to identify a criminal. I think that bar codes on bullets are a good way to solve gun related crimes.
Three aspects of the review that were particularly well presented were what the problem was, what the solution would be, and how the solution would affect forensic science. Two suggestions on how the review could have been better are if a hypothetical case was used as an example, and if possible projections of crime rate decreases or increased solving of gun cases. One aspect of this review that surprised me was that nobody had thought of this sooner.
This is a very well written article, that applies to what seems to be a very useful new forensics technique. I liked how well this bar code engraving process was described, and how it allows ballistics experts to analyze these bullets, by reading these barcodes. I also liked the reference tot eh Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, which we studied in class. I would have liked to understand how the bar code is engraved on the bullets, and if it costly to add to large amounts of guns, but overall this was a great arcticle.
Alex described this article very well and very descriptive. He explained how bullets play a role in forensic very well. I found the topic pretty interesting; due to individual bullets that are stamped with a special bar code, it is now easier for prosecutors to identify criminals.
I thought that this article was very clear and well-written. I liked how you used the Calvin Goddard part in the article because it sets a time period when this all started. I also liked how you came up with something i have never heard about and dindt know was going on as an idea. I thought that you should have used a specific example or a fake example in which this process could easily be used. I also think you should have reported on something that would be a little more realistic and would easily be put into use. I learned from this article that things are being done at all times to try and make work for forensic researchers easier and to make the observations more precise.
You had alot of great informations about forensics more accurate by putting tiny bar codes on bullets. This was a great summery.
This is a well written summarization of the article. It is very interesting that they are now taking action to make ballistic forensics more accurate through the application of bar codes. The example made about Goddard was great as it proves that older forensic studies are still applied today. If more information about the bar codes were included this article would be perfect. Understanding the cost of applying these barcodes to each bullet would be very significant as well as we would realize whether it would be worth spending such amounts of money just to pinpoint a couple murders.
Alex did a great job summarizing the article. He gave a good amount of information and detail. He explained how the bullet passes through the barrel and is imprinted with a bar code. He then explained how this bar code would be useful in a crime investigation. A suggestion would be to have included an example of when the bar code technique was used. I learned that the bar codes not only tell you which gun fired the bullet, but also where it was purchased.
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