A person tries out a semi-automatic pistol at The Gun Store on Nov. 14, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada. A mass shooting in Birmingham on Saturday has led to new calls for a state ban on ‘Glock switches,’ which rapidly increase the rate of fire on a gun. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
The mass shooting in the Five Points neighborhood of Birmingham Saturday night has led to new calls to ban devices that turn semi-automatic firearms into automatic ones.
But it’s not clear if the proposals – introduced in the previous two sessions – can pass in a Legislature that has loosened most gun restrictions over the last several years.
Following the shooting, which left at least four people dead and 17 injured, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin pleaded with lawmakers to approve a bill into state law that bans the use of trigger activators, better known as “Glock switches,” that convert a semi-automatic pistol into a fully automatic firearm and rapidly increase the rate of fire. Birmingham police say they believe the guns used in the Saturday attack had the devices attached.
“Glock switches are the number one public safety issue in our city and state,” Woodfin wrote in a Facebook post Sunday morning. “Though illegal under federal law, there is no state law that makes Glock switches illegal.””
He added that, “Converting a semi-automatic weapon into a fully automatic weapon that discharges all bullets within seconds doesn’t belong on our domestic streets.”
Rep. Phillip Ensler, D-Montgomery, has prefiled a bill, HB 26 which would prohibit possession of a pistol that contains a device, or components of a device, capable of converting it to a machine gun that can fire multiple rounds.
“I know law enforcement indicated it was a high level of bullets, the ammunition, that was used,” Ensler said in an interview Monday regarding the incident. “I will certainly wait for that to confirm whether or not it was a Glock switch that was used, but it does seem to indicate that one very likely was used. Either way, regardless of what happened, there is very much a need to have a state-level ban on these devices. The reason for that is that they are incredibly dangerous.”
The three-page bill states that individuals who knowingly have firearms that have a part or parts attached to them that can convert the pistol into a fully automatic weapon that can fire multiple rounds in a short period can be charged with a Class C felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The legislation allows for exceptions, such as for law enforcement as they perform their duties, or people who register the device with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Federal legislation already exists that prohibits people from having devices that convert firearms that are semi-automatic into automatic weapons. Ensler’s bill codifies that prohibition into state law.
“We need that state-level ban because, right now, if local police or sheriffs find someone with these devices, the best they can do is turn it over to the federal government,” Ensler said.
Alabama has some of the highest firearm death rates in the nation. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the state’s mortality rate from guns in 2022 was 25.5 per 100,000, the fourth-highest in the country that year. Alabama had more total deaths involving firearms (1,278) than New York State (1,044), which has almost four times the population of Alabama.
Gun violence researchers said gun control legislation could address mass shootings.
“I think there is no doubt that technology makes killing easier and faster, and as technology has advanced, it does make it easier for mass shooters to kill, or shoot, a large number of people in a short amount of time,” said Adam Lankford, a professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Alabama. “Semi-automatic pistols are part of it, but so are these Glock switches and high-capacity magazines in another related issue.”
However, gun safety legislation has struggled to advance in the Republican-controlled Legislature. Ensler’s bill to ban Glock switches passed the Alabama House late in last spring’s legislative session but failed to advance out of the Senate. A bill sponsored by Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, imposing criminal penalties on parents who do not safely store firearms around children won House committee approval late in last spring’s session but did not advance further.
Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Reed, R-Jasper declined comment on Monday. A message seeking comment was left with House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville.
“Mayor Woodfin is trying to blame the Legislature,” House Speaker Pro Tempore Chris Pringle, R-Mobile, said on Monday. “We are not responsible for most of these issues.”
Ensler, nevertheless, is hopeful he can pass the bill in 2025.
“What we want to do is make sure that law enforcement in Alabama is able to charge people with a state level crime where district attorneys can then prosecute those and handle those cases within Alabama,” he said.
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