ALBANY, N.Y. -- Supporters are calling it a next generation crime-fighting tool.

"I know all too well, dealing with the survivors of gun victims, they deserve to know who shot and killed their loved ones," said Michelle Schimel.

Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel is leading a fight to get the Senate to pass the Assembly's microstamping bill. It will require every semi-automatic pistol made in New York State to be equipped with the technology starting in 2010, something supporters say sounds good.

"You put a gun into the system, it traces to another cartridge. If there's no cartridge in that system, which there isn't 98 percent of the time, you get nothing. With this you get something every time you find a cartridge," said Josh Horwitz, Executive Director of Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence.

But not everyone is sold on microstamping. Critics are calling it a flawed technology that's been overly exagerated.

"You’re dealing with people's lives,” said Assemblyman Greg Bell. “The reality is this has been a tested technology that does have technical difficulties."

Those opposed to the bill say the technology only works some of the time and isn't reliable. Advocates argue, even if it works half the time, it’s worth it.

"Are you going to tell a mother that because it may not work 100 percent of the time, every time, that it’s not ready? This technology gives us leads where we don't have it," Horwitz said.

And on the issue of cost, the two sides have completely different numbers. But Michelle Schimel says disputes over effectiveness and cost aren't holding up the bill. Politics is.

"Because it's a gun bill. That’s it. This is a gun bill. I've been at this for fifteen years. This is the most common sense technology that I’ve ever seen," Schimel said.

Right now, California is the only other state in the nation to have passed similar legislation.