Gillibrand to support 'microstamping'?

I'll be the first to admit that whatever "evidence" I've found for U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's (D-NY) potential support for handgun "microstamping" should be taken with an extremely large grain of salt Still, it's something that bears watching, and New Yorkers might want to be sure that Sen. Gillibrand knows you're watching.

To begin, we have Gillibrand's meeting with New Yorkers Against Gun Violence executive director Jackie Hilly.

Hilly praised Gillibrand’s performance at the meeting on guns yesterday.

“I have to say that she was very open and she was well prepared and understood the things we were talking about, and obviously had thought about it beforehand,” Hilly said.

“She put out a welcoming, sort of extended hand. I think this is the first step in developing legislation that we think is important,” Hilly added. “We were encouraged by what she said yesterday, and by the attempts she made in bringing us into the process of developing the legislation.”

Now that's quite a reversal on Hilly's part--Gillibrand must be some kind of charmer, considering Hilly's position before the meeting:

Hilly then announced her group would hold a rally and news conference on the steps at New York’s City Hall today to blast Gillibrand and demand she support three bills that would undo the Tiahart amendment’s restrictions on gun tracing, end gun-show loopholes, and require “microstamping” of bullets for tracing.

We know that Gillibrand has already rolled over on the Tiahrt Amendment. As for the mythical "gun show loophole," if "pro-gun" (according to the NRA, starting sometime last summer) Arizona Republican John McCain can actively campaign for it, I don't see much stopping a New York Democrat from doing so. Still, I acknowledge there's little here to indicate she committed to backing "microstamping."

There's more, though.

Kirsten Gillibrand, in her first visit to Long Island since being appointed to the U.S. Senate last month, reassured advocates of gun control and immigrant rights on Friday that she's open to views different from her own.

"She's clearly looking at everything with new eyes," said Assemb. Michelle Schimel (D-Great Neck), referring to Gillibrand's conservative stances on some issues as a House member. "I felt confident she means what she says and that she will embrace what we care about over illegal gun ownership."

Schimel has backed a bill requiring some handguns to have technology that would imprint shell casings with codes that would match them to the guns. She said she now felt she had the senator's backing. In her two years in the House, Gillibrand's voting record earned a 100 percent approval rating from the National Rifle Association.

Granted, Schimel could be talking out her . . . McCarthy-hole. Maybe Gillibrand's staff will clear this up right away.

Gillibrand's aide Matt Canter did not respond to requests for comment Friday night.

Or maybe not.

She certainly is giving herself a lot of room to maneuver, isn't she?