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By Mike Barnhardt

Enterprise Record

If the Davie County Sheriff’s Office happens to gain possession of a firearm, they now can learn if it had been used in a crime.

Two of the county’s crime scene investigators have been certified in the use of Nibin (National Integrated Ballistics Information Network). It allows them to test firearms.

Capt. D.J. Smith said that every firearm puts a specific pattern onto casings as the gun is fired, and this network is used nationwide to find weapons that may have been used in previous crimes. “Each casing is unique, and there are several unique things that can be traced back to a certain gun.”

The office even fires their own weapons and enters them into the system, just in case one is ever stolen.

Any firearm the sheriff’s office receives, when allowed, is fired to get that specific casing pattern.

Already, the office has found one gun that was fired 50-60 times in a shooting at a Winston-Salem intersection. Another was tracked to someone wanted for attempted murder.

“It’s really interesting, and a great tool for us,” Smith said.

Now, the casings are taken to the Winston-Salem Police Department to enter into the system; Smith hopes Davie will get that machine soon, as well as an indoor chamber to test weapons.

A federal ATF agent will train deputies on how to protect such evidence, Smith said.