increasingly compared with one of their sister branches: the analysis of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) markers and identification based on those markers. As we note in Section 1–C, the term “ballistic fingerprinting
increasingly compared with one of their sister branches: the analysis of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) markers and identification based on those markers. As we note in Section 1–C, the term “ballistic fingerprinting” has also come into common (albeit somewhat inaccurate) usage to describe some features of firearms identification, suggesting a comparison with fingerprint evidence.
Firearms toolmark evidence differs from DNA and fingerprint evidence due to their basic point of reference: the former links to a particular firearm while the latter two link to a particular person. Links between pieces of ballistics evidence can point to a common gun from which exhibits were fired, but not necessarily to the same person pulling the trigger. A potential match suggested by a national reference ballistic image database could suggest a link from a piece of crime scene evidence to an original firearm point of sale, but that link is at least doubly indirect: the link is only to the location of the transaction and not immediately to the firearm’s purchaser, and subsequent identification of the purchaser does not necessarily mean that the purchaser still possesses the gun (or fired the shot in a crime). However, it is important to consider that—alone, absent any other evidence or knowledge of circumstances—even person-specific fingerprint and DNA evidence is necessarily one step removed and indirect. It is possible for fingerprint or DNA evidence to be present and retrievable at crime scenes without its source person having been the crime’s perpetrator. Forensic evidence can be use