GOP lawmakers now support ban on Glock switches after Birmingham Hush lounge mass shooting

A bill to ban devices that convert semiautomatic handguns into automatic weapons has been endorsed by lawmakers from both parties in Alabama, even in a state legislature generally wary of any restrictions on firearms.

After the mass shooting outside the Hush Lounge in Birmingham, Sen. Jabo Waggoner, a Republican from Vestavia Hills and chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, told AL.com he decided to support a ban on Glock switches.

“This is bringing us closer to home,” Waggoner said of the shooting that left four people dead and 17 injured. Police said the shooters used a trigger activator, or switch, on the Glock to spray gunfire into the crowd.

Support from Waggoner and other Republicans in the House and Senate will be key to HB26, pre-filed for the 2025 session and sponsored by Rep. Phillip Ensler, D-Montgomery.

Ensler has introduced the measure twice before and has made progress on his bill during the 2024 legislative session. Law enforcement officials flocked to the state House to show their support. The bill passed the House by a vote of 60 to 38 but died without a vote in the Senate.

Alabama House of Representatives Democrats have already issued a statement calling for support for a similar measure in the next session.

AL.com called and emailed all 35 state senators to gauge the bill’s chances of passing in 2025. Several Republicans said they would support the bill if it was tailored closely to Glock switches.

“I understand what the mayors and law enforcement officials are asking for,” said Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Josephine, who said he was suspicious of the Democrat-sponsored gun bill. “It’s already illegal. It’s against federal law to have a Glock switch modified like that. We can do it, too, but it’s already illegal. I’m not sure how beneficial it would be. But if it really is a bill to ban the Glock switch, I think I would be for it.”

Other lawmakers remain skeptical, however. Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Sheffield, said he has not yet read Ensler’s bill and will wait for the new session to form an opinion. He also said he “doubts” he would support a bill to ban Glock switches.

“I doubt it. I think it’s a social problem, not a type of weapon,” he said.

After the Birmingham shooting, Mayor Randall Woodfin asked the Legislature to take action, saying laws need to be changed to ensure police have the “necessary tools to enforce” safety.

Ensler called the Birmingham shootings “horrific and tragic.”

“These conversions make the guns much more lethal and dangerous,” he said. “And we need to do what we can to protect and save lives.”

Why was there a state ban on Glock switches?

Glock switches are already illegal under federal law. Ensler and supporters of his bill, including those in law enforcement, said a state law would strengthen local officials’ ability to act. Several other states are considering similar measures.

Currently, if local police or sheriffs find a Glock switch, they must refer the matter to federal officers who decide whether to pursue criminal charges.

Federal authorities have stepped up their crackdown on conversion devices in recent years, but say it’s hard to keep up.

“This will allow district attorneys in Alabama to prosecute these cases,” Ensler said. “Hopefully, having a ban at the state level, knowing that district attorneys can prosecute these cases, will deter some people from using these weapons. It’s another mechanism to hold people accountable if they’re caught with these weapons. It expands the ability of law enforcement to try to prevent some of these horrific incidents that happen because of these weapons.”

Ensler’s bill would make it illegal to possess “a handgun of which any part or combination of parts is designed or intended to be used to convert the handgun into a machine gun, or is mounted on or attached to the handgun.” Violations would be a class C felony, punishable by one to 10 years in prison.

Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr said the state law would give prosecutors and law enforcement an important tool.

“To turn a handgun, a regular firearm, into a machine gun, we all see the dangers and the carnage that would come of that,” Carr said. “Frankly, we need our state legislature to pass a law that makes the mere possession and production of a Glock switch a mandatory prison felony. That would be huge.”

At a news conference last year on the growing threat from converted machine guns, Ashley Lightner of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said the Glock’s switches allow the semiautomatic handgun to fire 20 rounds per second.

Law enforcement officials say guns modified with trigger activators are difficult for the shooter to control because they are not designed to fire automatically. That increases the risk to bystanders.

“It’s not designed to be a target,” Montgomery County Sheriff Derrick Cunningham said earlier this year. “It’s designed to spray, and it’s designed to kill.”

Will the bill be passed?

Ensler has key Republican co-sponsors in the House — Reps. Allen Treadaway of Morris, Russell Bedsole of Shelby County and Rex Reynolds of Madison County. All three have law enforcement experience. Treadaway was a deputy police chief in Birmingham, Reynolds was police chief in Huntsville and Bedsole is a captain in the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department. Treadaway chairs the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee, which will take up Ensler’s bill. That bodes well for retakeup by the House.

This year, the bill won approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee, allowing it to be passed, but it was never put to a vote.

If the bill is passed again by the House of Representatives, support from the Republican caucus in the Senate, which holds 27 of the 35 seats in the Senate, will be crucial.

As of Tuesday evening, reporters had received responses from 12 Republicans and four Democrats:

• Eight Republicans Support Bill
• Four undecided Republicans
• Four Democrats Supporting the Bill

Senator Rodger Smitherman, a Democrat from Birmingham, said he intends to introduce his own bill to ban Glock switches.

“Too many innocent people are getting hurt,” Smitherman said. “Too many. And many of them aren’t even the people they intended to hurt. But because of the way this device takes this weapon and throws bullets everywhere, it’s become essentially a public safety threat, a public health crisis, a public health crisis.”

Smitherman said he would also support legislation that would create an automatic life sentence without the possibility of parole for someone who kills someone with a Glock-style firearm, as well as an automatic life sentence for someone who injures someone with such a firearm.

The approach could be similar to what lawmakers did when they passed a new law to crack down on dangerous and deadly street racing and driving demonstrations in Birmingham and other Alabama cities. The law would provide for jail time and towing for some offenses that previously only resulted in a traffic ticket.

Sen. Robert Stewart, a Democrat who represents the 23rd District in Selma and other parts of west Alabama, said banning trigger-actuated weapons is a common-sense move to ensure public safety.

“These devices pose a serious threat to our communities, and it is our responsibility to protect the people of Alabama from harm,” Stewart said.

Some lawmakers have questioned the need for the new law, given that Glock switches are already illegal under federal law. Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence, said he would review the bill and would be willing to support it if it mirrored federal law. But he didn’t want to make a commitment yet.

“I’m not saying it’s a bad idea,” Melson said. “I’m just saying I didn’t know it was necessary.”

Melson said he was skeptical about whether the new law would stop criminals from getting their hands on the devices, but he acknowledged there was a problem.

“Something has to be done about this,” Melson said.

Read more: Why gun control isn’t the most important political issue in 2024

Republican senators who have said they would support a ban on Glock switches if the bill is narrowly tailored include Elliott, Waggoner and senators Greg Albritton of Atmore, Lance Bell of St. Clair County, Donnie Chesteen of Geneva, Arthur Orr of Decatur, Dan Roberts of Mountain Brook and Jack Williams of Wilmer.

Republican senators who were undecided were Melson, Stutts and Sens. Clyde Chambliss of Prattville and David Sessions of Mobile County.

Democratic senators who said they support the bill were Smitherman, Stewart and Senators Merika Coleman of Pleasant Grove and Vivian Davis Figures of Mobile.

The House vote on Ensler’s previous 2024 bill was by oral vote. No individual votes were recorded.

Ensler said HB 26, a three-page bill, focuses solely on Glock switches and should not be viewed as an attempt to restrict gun rights.

“This is not gun control, this is not taking away guns, this is not a violation of the Second Amendment,” Ensler said. “This is simply a public safety measure. And for that reason, I am optimistic that we will pass it next year.”

AL.com Journalist Williesha Morris assisted in preparing this report.