The Weekly Reload Podcast

Author Radley Balko Explains Why Courts Are Starting to Reject Firearms Ballistic Analysis


Listen Later

On this week's episode, The Watch's Radley Balko details the landmark decision of a Chicago judge not to allow firearm forensic experts to testify in a criminal case.

Balko said the court's decision comes after years of criticism aimed at the field of forensic pattern matching. He argues many of the techniques made famous on shows like CSI have little scientific basis. Many, he said, are based on little more than the best guesses of examiners who are mainly just eyeballing evidence.

He explained the idea that matching a mass-produced bullet to the mass-produced gun it was fired from, to the exclusion of all other guns, may well be impossible. Or, at the very least, we don't have advanced enough techniques to pull it off with the level of certainty you'd want for evidence that could put somebody in jail for years or even decades. Indeed, Balko noted, most examiners cited as experts in court are unwilling to even submit to outside tests of their methods.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about how far the injunctions against President Biden's pistol-brace ban extend. Jake also tells us about his latest rifle purchase, which is a bit of a throwback. And I give an update on how I'm liking the Phlster Enigma and appendix carry.

Special Guest: Radley Balko.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The Weekly Reload PodcastBy Stephen Gutowski

  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8

4.8

86 ratings


More shows like The Weekly Reload Podcast

View all
The Ben Shapiro Show by The Daily Wire

The Ben Shapiro Show

153,518 Listeners

Gun Talk by Gun Talk Media

Gun Talk

1,635 Listeners

We Like Shooting by Firearms Radio Network

We Like Shooting

886 Listeners

Concealed Carry Podcast - Guns | Training | Defense | CCW by ConcealedCarry.com

Concealed Carry Podcast - Guns | Training | Defense | CCW

876 Listeners

Show Archives – Armed American Radio | by Armed American Radio

Show Archives – Armed American Radio |

782 Listeners

Vortex Nation Podcast by Vortex Optics

Vortex Nation Podcast

1,535 Listeners

The Dana Show with Dana Loesch by Dana Loesch - Radio America

The Dana Show with Dana Loesch

2,591 Listeners

Backcountry Hunting Podcast by Joseph von Benedikt

Backcountry Hunting Podcast

1,178 Listeners

Bearing Arms' Cam & Co by Townhall Media

Bearing Arms' Cam & Co

431 Listeners

The Team House by dee takos

The Team House

1,644 Listeners

Hold These Truths with Dan Crenshaw by Dan Crenshaw

Hold These Truths with Dan Crenshaw

16,056 Listeners

The Colion Noir Podcast by Colion Noir

The Colion Noir Podcast

1,183 Listeners

Ron Spomer Outdoors by Ron Spomer

Ron Spomer Outdoors

313 Listeners

Active Self Protection Podcast by John Correia and Mike Willever

Active Self Protection Podcast

539 Listeners

The Hornady Podcast by Hornady Manufacturing

The Hornady Podcast

369 Listeners