California's requirement of 'microstamping' technology for new firearms means that no guns made after 2013 have been sold in the state, known as having some of the strictest gun control laws.

Now gun-rights groups are hoping that a federal judge will overturn the provision that gun manufacturers have blamed for ceasing gun sales.

Fox News reports that the Calguns Foundation and Second Amendment Foundation are eagerly awaiting a decision on microstamping requirements they say are effectively banning firearm sales.

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Stamped: Microstamping uses laser-engraved codes on firing pins to trace a shell casing to the gun that fired the bullet, though studies are inconclusive on its effectiveness

The request for California Eastern District Judge Kimberly Mueller to stop the state from enforcing a law on microstamping is the latest in a legal battle that began in 2009 over the state's 'Handgun Roster.'

'This is about the state trying to eliminate the handgun market,' said Alan Gura, the lead attorney in the lawsuit against the Chief of the California Department of Justice Bureau of Firearms.

'The evidence submitted by the manufacturers shows this is science fiction and there is not a practical way to implement the law.'

Microstamping utilizes lasers to engrave an alphanumeric code on the parts of the weapon such as the firing pin, which is transferred to a shell casing when the gun is fired.

A 2008 study from the forensic science program at UC Davis found that the codes on the face of the firing pin often transferred legibly, though codes on the edges wore down with repeated use.

Fred Tulleners, then-director of the forensic science graduate program at UC Davis, said at the time that the technology would cost between $6 and $7 to implement, but that more research was needed.

Patented technology: Todd Lizotte, who patented microstamping technology, has agreed to let his patents expire, a prerequisite for the technology being mandated by California's gun laws

California's requirement that handguns carry the technology, which was patented in the 1990s, stipulated that the technology be feasible and all private patents are expired, SF Gate reported.

Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer, who introduced the bill that enacted the microstamping requirement as a state assemblyman, said the technology could identify the firearm in 45 percent of unsolved gun crimes.

'When we know who bought the crime gun, that’s a significant lead for law enforcement,' Feuer said.

Firearms manufacturers have not been warm to the new technology, which proponents say could replace or complement ballistic fingerprinting, a century-old method of identifying a firearm used in a shooting.

Two gun manufacturers, Smith & Wesson and Sturm, Ruger & Co, blamed the microstamping requirement when they announced last year they would stop selling guns in California.

Smith & Wesson, though, is still selling certain models, such as the M&P Shield pistol, grandfathered in on the state's Handgun Roster of legal firearms.

In the view of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, such as Gene Hoffman, co-founder of Calguns Foundation, with gunmakers backing out of the state, the law is a de facto ban on firearm sales.