Go figure.
Okay.
Firearm Factoids
http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/factoid4.htmEXCERPT:
1) Individuals don't always have a sufficient quantity of perspiration and/or contaminates on their hands to be deposited
2) When someone touches something, they may handle it in a manner which causes the prints to smear
3) The surface may not be suitable for retaining the minute traces of moisture in a form representative of the ridge detail
4) The environment may cause the latent print to deteriorate.
The most important fact dealing with the lack of fingerprints is that it neither suggests, implies, or establishes that any person did or did not touch the item of evidence. Items which have been witnessed to have been handled and laboratory experimentation repeatedly reiterate this premise.
Alan McRoberts
Los Angeles Sheriff's Department
Scientific Services Bureau
Identification Section