New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Advises to Cut COBIS Program

New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Advises Gov. Paterson to Cut COBIS Program

TROY, NY –-(AmmoLand.com)- In these difficult economic times, Gov. Paterson has called for $3 billion in budget cuts. The New York State Rifle & Pistol Association has a suggestion for saving several million taxpayer dollars each year: abolish the Combined Ballistic Identification System (COBIS).

The COBIS program was introduced by Gov. Pataki in 2000. Its stated purpose is to collect identifying data from the shell casings of all new handguns sold in the state.

This information is then entered into a database for use by law enforcement to aid in identifying and prosecuting criminals.

Since its inception, over a quarter of a million shell cases have been collected and entered into the database at an estimated cost of $32 million and not a single arrest or conviction has resulted.

In fact, COBIS has proven to be such a boondoggle that no other state is even considering implementing their own version of it.

If Gov. Paterson is serious about saving money, then COBIS ought to be at the top of the list of programs to be cut.

About:
The New York State Rifle & Pistol Association is the state’s largest and oldest firearms advocacy organization. Since 1871, our organization has been dedicated to the preservation of Second Amendment rights, firearm safety, education and training, and the shooting sports. Our membership consists of individuals and clubs throughout the state. We are a not-for-profit 501(c)4 organization and the official NRA-affiliated State Association in New York.