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The SWGGUN met in Missoula, Montana for their
semi-annual meeting from October 20-23, 2008.
Fifteen members of the Board members were
present for the meeting with three members
absent and two Board vacancies through recent
resignations. Topics and issues covered during
this meeting are listed below.
The Board reviewed the following proposed
guidelines and then voted that these guidelines
be adopted and placed on the website for final
posting:
The Board reviewed
the following guideline and voted to post this
document on the website for review:
The Admissibility Resource Kit (ARK) Maintenance
Committee presented the following reports and
updates to the Board:
-
Eight new
court ruling citations and summaries have
recently been added to the
Admissibility Resource Kit (ARK). Many
of these rulings involved reference to the
NAS/NRC Report on Ballistic Imaging.
-
Additional
Power Point photographs, articles and
caveats are being reviewed and will be
incorporated into the ARK at a later time.
The SWGGUN Survey Committee informed the Board
that the SWGGUN CMS Survey Report was accepted
for publication in the AFTE Journal.
The Gunshot Residue and Firearms Function
Committees presented their initial working
outline to the Board. Both of these committees
are reviewing current examination protocols and
conclusion criteria, used in these two areas of
analysis.
The Science Committee also presented its initial
working outline to the Board. This Committee
will be composing a general declaration
supporting the science of Firearms and Toolmark
Identification; as well as addressing numerous
opposing views of the discipline, such as those
raised in the NAS/NRC Report on Ballistic
Imaging.
The Document Archive Committee is currently
determining the most advantageous method for
storing and maintaining documents and
correspondence.
The Document Committee will begin reviewing the
Quality Assurance Guidelines document for
possible updates.
The following new committees were formed at last
week’s meeting:
-
The Technical
Assessment and Review Committee (TAR) - the
TAR will provide guidelines on conducting a
technical peer review of case work. A
draft of their proposed guidelines
for insertion in the SWGGUN QA/QC Guidelines
has been posted for review.
-
The
Admissibility Training Committee (ATC) - the
ATC will develop a program that will train
and assist Firearm & Toolmark Examiners on
how to testify in admissibility hearings.
These committees are working to develop a
product that can be posted on the SWGGUN website
for review and comments from the forensic
community. SWGGUN continues to operate its own
website at
www.swggun.org and solicits valuable input
from the discipline through a number of
different mechanisms during the development
stages of the guidelines which we produce. These
guidelines/documents are then posted on the
website for your review and we encourage peer
review of these materials. Feel free to contact
a Board member with your comments/concerns or
visit us at the “Feedback Forum” tab above.
The SWGGUN Chairman reported the following
contacts since the last meeting:
-
The SWGGUN was
contacted on numerous occasions this past
year by the European Network of Forensic
Science Institutes (ENFSI) inviting SWGGUN
to their annual meeting in Croatia. Prior to
this, ENFSI also contacted the SWGGUN Chair
expressing a desire to coordinate our
efforts in setting forth general recommended
guidelines to the firearms and toolmark
discipline.
-
Numerous
inquiries from firearm and toolmark
examiners across the United States were
received regarding information on preparing
for admissibility hearings. Many of those
inquiries were included in the SWGGUN
announcement update (see homepage) regarding
the NAS/NRC Report on Ballistic Imaging and
its impact on the admissibility of firearms
related court testimony.
The following personnel matters were approved by
the Board during this meeting:
-
Ms. Kim Haag
accepted and was voted to a third term as
SWGGUN Secretary.
-
James S.
Stephenson from the Connecticut State Police
Laboratory and Gerald Andrew “Andy” Smith
from the San Francisco, California, Police
Laboratory were selected as new Board
members replacing Don Mikko and Jim Krylo
who recently resigned from the Board.
During this meeting, SWGGUN members were
afforded training tours of the Montana State
Crime Laboratory located in Missoula; as well as
Cooper Firearms and HMS Ammunition, Inc. located
in Stevensville, Montana.
Thank you for allowing us to serve you. Board
member information can be found under the
“Members” tab. We look forward to hearing from
you and encourage your continued participation
in these ongoing projects that ultimately affect
our work product.
Gregory S. Klees- Chair, SWGGUN
