Forensics Journal - Stevenson University 2013 | Page 51

STEVENSON UNIVERSITY

tion requires the recovery of both a cartridge case and a firearm, and
more often than not a firearm is never found, the ballistic cartridge
images are stored in a national computer network, the National
Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN), to which numerous law enforcement groups throughout the United States contribute
(National Shooting Sports Foundation). Consequently, massive
amounts of information stored on the database force reviewers to sort
through a vast amount of images to compare tool marks to match a
firearm to a cartridge.

to a firearm’s mechanism. As Lizotte contends, “In ѕ