GOP lawyers now back Glock switch ban after mass shooting at Birmingham Hush lounge

A bill to ban devices that convert semi-automatic handguns to automatic fire has support from Alabama lawyers in both parties, even in a statehouse generally leery of any restrictions on firearms.

After a mass shooting outside the Hush lounge in Birmingham, Sen. Jabo Waggoner, R-Vestavia Hills, chair of the Senate Rules Committee, told AL.com he had decided to support a ban on Glock switches.

“That brings it pretty close to home,” Waggoner said, of the shooting that killed four and injured 17. Police said shooters used a trigger activator, or Glock switch, to spray a crowd of people with gunfire.

Support from Waggoner, and other Republicans in the House and Senate will be crucial for HB26prefiled for the 2025 session and sponsored by Rep. Rep. Phillip Ensler, D-Montgomery.

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

Alabama House Democrats have already released a statement urging support of a similar measure in the next session.

AL.com called and emailed all 35 state senators to gauge the chances for the bill in 2025. A number of Republicans said they would support the measure if it was narrowly tailored to target Glock switches.

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

Other legislators, however, remain skeptical. You. Larry Stutts, R-Sheffield, said he had not read Ensler’s bill yet and he would wait for the new session to form an opinion. He also said that he “doubts” that he would be in favor of a bill banning Glock switches.

“I doubt it. “I think it’s a social problem, not what kind of gun it is,” he said.

Since the Birmingham shooting, Mayor Randall Woodfin has asked for action from the legislaturesaying laws need to change for police to have “the necessary tools to enforce” safety.

Ensler called the Birmingham shooting “horrific and tragic.”

“These conversions just make pistols so much more deadly and dangerous,” he said. “And we need to do what we can to protect and save lives.”

Why add 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 have to turn the case over to federal officials, who decide whether or not to prosecute.

Federal officials have been cracking down on conversion devices in recent yearsbut say it is hard to keep up.

“What this will do is allow district attorneys in Alabama to prosecute those cases,” Ensler said. “The hope is that by having a state-level ban knowing that district attorneys can prosecute these cases, hopefully it deters some use of these weapons. It’s another mechanism to hold people accountable should they be found with them. “It expands the ability of law enforcement to be able to try to prevent some of these horrific incidents that happen because of these guns.”

Ensler’s bill would ban possession of a “a pistol that has a part or combination of parts designed or intended to convert a pistol into a machine gun installed on or attached to the pistol.” Violations would be a Class C crime, punishable by one to 10 years in prison.

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

“To make a pistol, a regular gun, into basically a machine gun, we all see the dangers in that and the carnage that leaves behind,” Carr said. “What we need, in all honesty, is our state legislature to pass a law that makes the mere possession and manufacturing of a Glock switch a mandatory jail offense. “That would be huge.”

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

Law enforcement officials say handguns modified with trigger activators are hard for the shooter to control because they are not designed for automatic fire. That raises the risk to bystanders.

“It ain’t meant for target shooting,” Montgomery County Sheriff Derrick Cunningham said earlier this year. “It’s meant for spraying and it’s meant for killing.”

Will the bill pass?

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 backgrounds. Treadaway was an assistant police chief in Birmingham, Reynolds was police chief in Huntsville, and Bedsole is a captain with the Shelby County sheriff’s department. Treadaway chairs the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee, which will handle Ensler’s bill. That bodes well for it passing the House again.

The bill won approval in the Senate Judiciary committee this year, putting it in position to pass, but it never came up for a vote.

Should the bill pass the House again, the key will be supported from the Senate Republican caucus, which holds 27 of 35 Senate seats.

Reporters received answers from 12 Republicans and four Democrats as of Tuesday evening:

• Eight Republicans who support the bill
• Four Republicans who are undecided
• Four Democrats who support the bill

You. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, said he intends to introduce his own bill to ban Glock switches.

“There are too many innocent people who are getting hurt,” Smitherman said. “Too many. And a lot of them are not even the intended people to be hurt. But because of the way that device takes that gun and sprays bullets everywhere, it has become basically a public safety hazard, a public crisis, a health crisis.”

Smitherman said he would also support legislation to impose an automatic sentence of life-without-parole for someone who kills a person with a gun altered by a Glock switch, and an automatic life sentence for a person who injures someone with such a weapon.

That approach could be similar to what the Legislature did when it passed a new law to crack down on dangerous and deadly street racing and exhibition driving in Birmingham and other Alabama cities. The law calls for jail time and vehicle impoundment for some offenses that previously resulted only in a traffic ticket.

You. Robert Stewart, a Democrat who represents District 23 in Selma and other parts of west Alabama, said a ban on trigger activators is a common sense move for public safety.

“These devices pose a serious threat to our communities, and it’s our duty to protect Alabamians from harm,” Stewart said.

Some prosecutor question the need for a new law considering that Glock switches are already illegal under federal law. You. Tim Melson, R-Florence, said he would review the bill and be inclined to support it if it mirrors federal law. But he does not want to commit yet.

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

Melson said he is skeptical that a new law would stop those carrying out crimes from getting their hands on the devices, but did acknowledge there is a problem.

“Something needs to be done,” Melson said.

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

Republican senators who said they would support a ban on Glock switches if the bill is narrowly tailored include Elliott, Waggoner, and Sens. 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 supported the bill were Smitherman, Stewart and Sens. Merika Coleman of Pleasant Grove and Vivian Davis Figures of Mobile.

The 2024 House roll call on Ensler’s previous bill was taken by voice vote. No individual votes were recorded.

Ensler said HB 26, a three-page bill, Focuses only on Glock switches and should not be considered an effort to restrict gun rights.

“It’s not a gun control, it’s not a take-away guns, it’s not an infringement on the Second Amendment,” Ensler said. “It’s simply a public safety measure. And for that reason I’m optimistic we’ll pass it this coming year.”

AL.com staff writer Williesha Morris contributed to this report.