Guilt on their Hands (bullet tagging)

[flashl]

WEBWIRE – Monday, August 04, 2008

Tiny ‘tags’ could help to solve and deter gun crime

Criminals who use firearms may find it much harder to evade justice in future, thanks to an ingenious new bullet tagging technology developed in the UK.

The tiny tags – just 30 microns* in diameter and invisible to the naked eye – are designed to be coated onto gun cartridges. They then attach themselves to the hands or gloves of anyone handling the cartridge and are very difficult to wash off completely.

Crucially, some of these ’nanotags’ also remain on the cartridge even after it has been fired. This should make it possible to establish a robust forensic link between a cartridge fired during a crime and whoever handled it.

To date it has been extremely hard to establish such a link because of the difficulty in retrieving fingerprints or significant amounts of DNA from cartridge surfaces, which are shiny and smooth. The nanotags, which are quite unlike anything previously used in the fight against gun crime, could therefore lead to a significant increase in successful convictions.

[derby378]

1. Won't criminals simply wear disposable gloves?

:shrug:

[angstlessk]

2. Clinton wanted to tag explosives also..but the PNAC had their way and the republican

congress quashed the policy!! 9/11 investigation would have been a 'cakewalk' had we tagged explosives!

[Cronus Protagonist]

3. Look for all our money to be covered in these things in five years

And they'll be finding them in baby shit, cancer biopsies and dna samples. I predict they will pollute our environment pervasively.

[RC]

4. So you don't think this to be a good idea?

:shrug:

[Cronus Protagonist]

5. Nano pollution could kill all life on earth

Clogging up the core processes of living organisms.

[flashl]

6. Its been over a year, but recall reading an article which suggests the nano genie is already out the

proverbial bottle. And, that it is difficult to determine its impact because no one is really tracking the "releases".

Have you heard something similar?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

9. Oh, absolutely.

If god wanted anything to be 30 microns in size, we would have made it visible.

:eyes:

[Posteritatis]

10. Hyperbole is awesome! (nt)

[macllyr]

7. Micro not Nanotags

At 30 microns of diameter, I would not call these "nanotags" but rather "microtags".

The tags are made from chemically modified natural pollen particles, which are
glued to the cartridges.

Mac L'lyr

[jody]

8. Topic discussed in the thread below on DU's Guns forum.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=118&topic_id=182682&mesg_id=182682