across the potomac river, maryland said they will fingerprint gun owners and limit gun magazines to ten rounds. the national rifle association says it's unconstitutional. >> mostly they're feel good laws but they're dangerous. one thing you shouldn't do you in a democratic society or in any society for that matter is to make policy the height of an emotional kind of feeling. >> reporter: nowhere is the patchwork problem seen as more serious than the national instant check system for gun purchases known as nics. >> the dirty secret is the states don't even have to contribute to the nics data base system. >> reporter: half the states don't pull fully participate. it's a national system that has never been nationwide. >> if you don't have background checks on all gun sales, everything else is virtually useless. there is no way of tracking it. there's no way of enforcing it. there's no way of holding people accountable to who they sell their gun to. >> reporter: and the tough thing to change until the war between the states over guns comes to an