- 01: Introduction
- 02: History
- 03: Propellants, Firearms, and Ammunition Development
- 04: Modern Firearms Manufacture
- 05: Small Arms Ammunition
- 06: Evidence Handling Procedures
- 07: Equipment and Instrumentation
- 08: Examination of Firearms
- 09: Cartridge and Shotshell Examination
- 10: Characterization and Evaluation of Fired Projectiles
- 11: Bullet Comparison and Identification
- 12: Gunshot Residue and Distance Determination
- 13: Toolmark Identification
- 14: Communicating Results
- Resources
1970-1978
Home > History > 1970-1978
1970
AFTE hosted the first Annual Training Seminar. The primary purpose of the annual seminars is to provide for the exchange of information as it relates to all aspects of the science of firearm and toolmark identification.
1973
Mathews' volume III
With the assistance of Alan Wilimovsky of the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory, a third volume of Dr. J. H. Mathews’ Firearms Identification was published posthumously.
Volume III included
- additional data on rifling characteristics,
- notes on less well-known American revolvers and pistols,
- several hundred original photographs and illustrations of firearms.
1975
Due to continuing controversy surrounding the killing of Senator Robert Kennedy, the Superior Court of California ordered that a panel be formed to conduct a reexamination of the evidence. Seven AFTE endorsed firearm examiners individually reexamined the firearms evidence. Collectively the members reported that their examination of the evidence revealed that there was not sufficient evidence to indicate that more than one firearm was used to fire the evidence items.
1975
Gunpowder residue
In response to the need for forensic training, the FBI Laboratory offered a "Gunpowder and Primer Residues" course, the first of many training courses for firearm examiners.
1977
The FBI General Rifling Characteristics (GRC) file was established in early 1977 as part of what was planned to become a multidisciplinary Criminalistics Laboratory Information System (CLIS). The CLIS system was discontinued primarily due to funding limitations; the GRC File continued as a standalone project. The Firearms-Toolmarks Unit of the FBI Laboratory assembled a searchable mainframe computer database of known general rifling characteristics to share as comparison standards of class characteristics of evidence bullets. The input data originated from FBI cases dating from the early 1950s.
1977
John F. Kennedy & Martin Luther
King with evidence items
In late 1977 and during a major portion of 1978, the United States House of Representatives assembled the Select Committee on Assassinations to conduct analysis of the firearms related evidence pertaining to the previous investigations of the John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinations. The panel, which consisted of several AFTE members, concurred with the findings of the original firearm examiners for all four previous investigations.
1978
In late 1978, a GRC prototype system was rolled out for user testing to twelve representative regional, state, and federal laboratories connected to the FBI by a teletype terminal. Shortly thereafter, access was made available to any laboratory that could support the connection, making the data available on a twenty-four-hour basis. By the early 1990s, the mainframe data were converted for use on a personal computer (PC) and is distributed annually as a download or on CD-ROM at no cost to forensic laboratories worldwide.
