New Jersey Moves Toward Adopting Gun Microstamping Measures After Delays

A man looks at handguns at a shooting range in Randolph, N.J., on Dec. 9, 2015. Jewel Samad/AFP via Getty Images

After months of delays, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin took one step closer to implementing a law mandating that gun stores in the state sell firearms equipped with microstamp technology.

In 2022, Democratic New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed a law that established the process for adopting microstamp technology on firearms sold within the state. The idea of the technology is to have a component within a firearm that leaves a unique imprint on spent shell casings that denotes the make, model, and serial number of the firearm that fired it. This technology would theoretically make it easier for investigators to match shell casings left at a crime scene to a potential suspect.

The 2022 microstamping law comes short of mandating the technology be adopted on all firearms within the state. At least for the time being, Mr. Platkin’s office is tasked with investigating the viability of implementing the microstamping technology and establishing a roster for qualifying firearms.

On Tuesday Mr. Platkin announced the standards and submission process a firearm has to satisfy to be included on the state’s roster of “microstamping-enabled firearms” under the 2022 law. Once firearms are certified for the state’s microstamping-enabled firearms roster, the law requires that all gun stores in the state carry at least one microstamp-enabled firearm for purchase.

These new standards and procedures for submitting a firearm for the roster come months behind schedule. The 2022 bill specifically required the attorney general’s office to have the microstamping regulations ready within 180 days of when it took effect, when Mr. Murphy signed it into law on July 5, 2023.

Though his office is still evaluating the viability of the technology, Mr. Platkin praised its potential positive impact on public safety.

“This amazing yet straightforward technology – imprinting unique identifiers on the firing pin of firearms—will have a profound impact on public safety across the state,” Mr. Platkin said on Tuesday. “Thanks to Governor Murphy, New Jersey is a national leader in innovative approaches to reducing gun violence, and microstamping is the latest example of that. Its adoption will aid our law enforcement officers in swiftly identifying crime guns and holding perpetrators accountable.”

The 2022 law states that once microstamping-enabled firearms are validated and included on the state roster, New Jersey gun stores will be required to carry at least one microstamping-enabled firearm product for retail sales and must order “at least one firearm on the microstamp roster within 21 days” after the sale of their last microstamping-enabled firearm in their inventory.

NTD News reached out to Mr. Platkin’s office for comment but did not receive a response by the time this article was published.

Microstamp Laws Face Hurdles

The New Jersey attorney general is not the only official to see delays in adopting firearm microstamping technology.

The Democrat-majority state legislature in neighboring New York passed its own firearm microstamping law in June of 2022, setting a 180-day timeline to determine the viability of the technology, followed by a one-year timeframe for setting performance requirements for the technology if the technology is deemed viable. The New York law also sets a timeline for fining and criminally penalizing sales of pistols that are not equipped with the technology, but the state has yet to validate the technology to initiate the adoption timeline.