Nor can DNA evidence reveal intent. What if one handles a gun merely to get a feel for it (no different from ogling someone's phone or slipping into the driver

Nor can DNA evidence reveal intent. What if one handles a gun merely to get a feel for it (no different from ogling someone's phone or slipping into the driver's seat of a friend's new car)? That said, the fact that a defendant touched a gun, plus an eyewitness account putting that defendant at a crime scene, plus recovery of the gun from the crime scene, etc. all work together to make the case that a defendant committed a crime with a particular weapon. Just because evidence is circumstantial doesn't make it any less powerful in legal proceedings.