ALBANY, N.Y. -- If you come to Kenneth Delano's Charlton Gun Shop, he'll tell you -- if it's passed -- he'll go along with the new state legislation that could require every semiautomatic handgun to "microstamp" bullet casings.
"No shooter has the right to hide behind a blank shell casing," said Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel.
Proponents of her plan - which include the Senate Republican Majority - say it works like this. The gun's firing pin would imprint the gun's serial number onto the shell casing, allowing detectives to more quickly trace evidence to a gun used criminally.
"It will greatly aid law enforcement in investigating homicides and other crimes and allow them to trace firearms through casings found at crime scenes as police would not need to recover the crime gun itself.," said Schimel.
A new legislative proposal would require all new handguns to microstamp bullet casings to help law enforcement solve gun crimes faster. But is this just another cost and burden on law abiding gun owners? Our Steve Ference took a look at what the legislation could mean.
Older guns would be grandfathered-in, and legislators said microstamping would make a new gun cost up to an extra $8.
But back at the gun shop, Delano said, "It really doesn't work."
He said it's a slippery slope designed to make it harder to do business in New York - and he doesn't think it will do much to solve crimes, let alone deter them.
"I think it could be easily defeated. Some proponents say if the stuff is hardened it can't be, but a grinding wheel will take away anything," he said.
And if this legislation is to be passed, it would come with some penalties. If you try to deface the gun - that is try to get rid of that microstamp -- you would be charged with a felony. And if you're a dealer who has guns without that microstamp, you're facing a fine of $1,000 per gun.
Delano said, "Most citizens are law abiding citizens who go by the law even though they disagree with it. The criminal will just laugh at us. He'll go do whatever he pleases. That's what makes him a criminal."
If the legislation gets through both the Assembly and Senate -- whether you think it's just one more unnecessary gun control measure or a way to catch criminals easier -- it could be signed into law for 2010 within a few weeks.
Five states are currently debating similar measures including Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Wisconsin. California recently passed their own version.