◆ SpookStack

Refiring of Sirhan Gun Another factor consistently urged by the two-gun advocates was the refiring of Sirhan's gun. Interestingly, the critics had usually asked for a refiring of the gun without the intermediary step of microscopic examination of the bullets in the Clerk's custody. Examination of these bullets might have resulted in a conclusion regarding the number of guns and thus eliminated the need to refire the gun. Such additional steps as refiring the gun would not have been necessary unless one of two situations existed after such a microscopic comparison. First, it it was indicated that all bullets were not fired by the same gun, the refiring of Sirhan's gun would then be relevant in determining which bullets, if any, Sirhan had fired. And second, even if microscopic com- Parison of bullets indicated only one gun, a refiring of Sirhan's gun would be relevant only if there was an issue regarding whether or not Sirhan'ts gun was the gun which fired those bullets. However, few of the critics ever advocated microscopic com- parison after their photographie comparison. This underscores the question as to what advantage, if any, was to be obtained by twogun advocates who asserted that refiring of the Sirhan gun was an integral aspect of any bullet examination. The District Attorney's Office cautioned in its 1974 memorandum analysis that any refiring of Sirhan'ts gun would probably result in inconclusive findings as to whether the Sirhan bullet exhibits had been fired from the Sirhan gun. This was because the firing of the gun would not necessarily produce buliets with the same individual characteristics as those actually used by Wolfer during the Sirhan investigation. This was partially because of the existing problem of whether the County Clerk had effectively preserved the actual bullets compared by Wolfer. Additionally, the likelihood of inconclusive results was substantial, in that there was a strong possibility that a refiring of the gun would produce sufficient differences in striations among the bullets to conclude that the Sirhan bullet exhibits were not fired by the Sirhan gun. The District Attorney's Office was concerned that the Ward hearings, in proposing the re-firing of the Sirhan gun, would not Clarify the issue, but might possibly create perpetual controversy regarding the number of guns. ; Integrity of the Physical Evidence The preservation of the integrity of the physical evidence was considered important. The very-nature of ballistics evidence is Such that certain precautions are absolutely necessary. It is weil known in law enforcement circles that the identifying features of softiead bullets can be virtually erased by rubbing them with fingers or by dropping them on a hard surface. Merely running a @leaning brush through the bore of a gun can destroy the features of the bore, which, in turn, will have a direct affect on any test firing. oe