From: Tim May <tcmay@got.net>
Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 20:57:55 -0700 (PDT)
To: jim@mentat.com (Jim Gillogly)
Subject: Re: Gunpowder taggant solution
In-Reply-To: <9805161844.AA05715@mentat.com>
Message-ID: <v0313030bb1840e9b6ddc@[209.133.20.46]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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At 12:52 PM -0700 5/16/98, Igor Chudov @ home wrote:
>Jim Gillogly wrote:
>> Igor said:
>> > I think that the gunpowder taggants are not as bad as it seems at first
>> > sight. EVen if all gunpowders are sold with taggants, and if there is
>> > enough people wishing to defeat them, they can simply organize gunpowder
>> > mixing parties at gun shows. After several such parties, the taggants
>> > might become completely useless.
>>
>> I'm woefully ignorant about reloading, but would this really work?
>> Would you mix your high-quality smokeless with Tim's homebrew black
>> powder, Toto's pebble-ground Canada Red Doobie Mix, and Bell's
>> stinkbomb components and take away the average?  Or are different types
>> of powder visually distinct enough or similar enough in effect to mix
>> and match effectively?
>
>I am perhaps even more ignorant, but I think that if you mix the same
>kind of gunpowder (XYZ's BLAH # 123 gunpowder for example), then there
>is no problem. But of course mixing different kinds may be asking for
>trouble -- I have no clue about that.
>
>Also, a gun owner could simply buy gnu powder in various places and
>mix the batches.

I don't know the particular details of the "taggant" proposal (in terms of
which problem it's trying to solve). But here are some generally true
comments:

* For smokeless powders, i.e., _not_ black powder, the powders are
semi-visually recognizable. So Bullseye is noticeably different from Unique
and 2400, for example.

* However, smokeless powders are worthless for bombs. (Black powder is
almost worthless, by modern standards. Much easier to make your own
plastique.)

* If the goal  is to trace shootings, as oppose to bombings, then the focus
would be on smokeless powders. However, very few Bad Guys are into
reloading, so....

* The only way such a law can be useful is to crack down strongly on
ammunition resales, loans, gifts, etc. And a monstrous nightmare of
traceability, identity checks, etc.

(And what to do with those of us who have several cases (1000 rounds/case)
of various kinds of ammo? (I surmise dimbulbs like Diane Feinstein, Sarah
Brady, and Barbara Boxer think they can "outlaw" this old ammo, or cause a
gang banger in LA to shoot only freshly-purchased ammo.)

And so it goes.

--Tim May


"The tree of liberty must be watered periodically with the blood of
tyrants...."
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
ComSec 3DES:   408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
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