I was looking through my universities on-line library for books relating to Lean Manufacturing and Organizational Change when I typed in ballistics on a whim. The red flags started going up almost immediately as I read the Exec Summary. ATF's NIBIN (National Integrated Ballistics Information Network) is cited in the first paragraph along with the NIJ (National Institute of Justice).
NIST ring any bells? I remember a reference to it on a podcast, I think it was Eric on the Hangun Podcast , but I don't recall the context.
"Finding: The validity of the fundamental assumptions of uniqueness and reproducibility of firearms-related toolmarks has not yet been fully demonstrated.
Notwithstanding this finding, we accept a minimal baseline standard regarding ballistic evidence."
Cork, Daniel L.; Rolph, John E.; Meieran, Eugene S. (Editor). Ballistic Imaging.
Washington, DC, USA: National Academies Press, 2008. p xxv.
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/georgefox/Doc?id=10235161&ppg=25Copyright © 2008. National Academies Press. All rights reserved.
ROFL!
For those that aren't familiar with this study the desired outcome was to test fire and record every, or nearly every, firearm manufactured or imported into the US to build a database. All at the cost of taxpayers and gun owners.
EDIT: This report also floated microstamping as a way to track firearms.