Activists want bullets to carry bar codes :: 09/27/2011

Yvonne Carrington Payne and Carolyn Funches have cooked Thanksgiving dinners for the homeless, raised money for needy families, and set up a shelter for battered women.

"We don't play around," said Carrington Payne, 70. "When people see us coming, they know we get things done."

Now, in what surely will be their toughest challenge, the Chester duo are taking on the gun lobby.

Specifically, they want bar codes on bullets as a way of tracking killers and reducing gun violence.

"There are too many unsolved shootings," Funches said. "Take the bullets and trace them back. It will connect people to who bought the ammunition."

Carrington Payne and Funches are still "tweaking" what they would like included in a law to that effect. At the moment, they envision requirements that every bullet sold in the state be encoded and that buyers have a gun permit, be at least 18, and have a driver's license.