In an issue that has gained interest since the deadly sniper shootings in Washington, D.C., Senator Herb Kohl, D-Wis., reintroduced legislation this month that would require fingerprinting for purchasers of new guns.

Zach Goldberg, spokesperson for Kohl, said the legislation was not introduced because of the sniper shootings.

“The time wasn’t related so much to the sniper attack, but there has been definitely more attention,” Goldberg said.

Kohl introduced the Ballistics, Law Assistance and Safety Technology Act, known more commonly as the BLAST act, in March 2000, but it did not get further than the judiciary committee due to the Senate session ending.

The BLAST act would require all new firearms to be tested and compiled into a national computerized database. The bullets and casings would have a unique pattern or “fingerprint” after being fired, which could be looked up in the database to determine the owner.

Although the Bush administration first opposed the act, it has been doing studies and research regarding creating a national database.

Goldberg said he is not confident that the bill will pass before this Senate session is over; however, after the elections, the bill might get farther.

Goldberg added that there have been more supporters since the sniper attacks.

“There is a considerable amount of supporters on both sides,” Goldberg said.

One supporter includes Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Maryland, who is also co-sponsor of the BLAST act.

Since the sniper attacks, in addition to supporting the BLAST act, Mikulski has worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to make Maryland safer. According to her press secretary Amy Hagovski, Mikulski hopes to give more federal resources at the local level.

Today Mikulski is expected to propose giving federal money to the local government to help pay costs so it doesn’t use up all the money in the budget.

“Those two things combined are what she can do on a federal level,” Hagovski said.

Goldberg said the National Rifle Association opposes the BLAST Act.

According to a statement made by NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre and Chris W. Cox, executive director of the Institute for Legislative Action for the NRA, the BLAST act infringes on the rights of gun owners in America.

” … we cannot support a ballistic ‘fingerprinting’ proposition that even a passing glance reveals [is] flawed, unworkable and infringes on the rights of tens of millions of law-abiding Americans,” the statement said.

LaPierre and Cox went on to explain how the patterns on the casing or bullet could be altered for a variety of reasons and could be unreliable.

“Maryland and New York taxpayers might rightfully ask whether the millions of dollars required to create and maintain such a system could be better spent on vital law-enforcement needs,” the statement said. “Before squandering billions of dollars to deploy such a system nationwide, American taxpayers — despite national alarm in the wake of tragedy — should ask that question, too.”