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After coming close to passing last session, Representative Ensler pre-filed HB26 for the 2025 legislative session to create a state-level offense banning pistols converted into machine guns with trigger activators.
After passing the House in 2024, the bill had enough support in the Senate to pass, but it was not voted on the last day of session due to the upper chamber not taking up any bills on the calendar as a result of other differences unrelated to the trigger activator bill.
In a sign of the strong bipartisan support for this legislation, HB26 has several Republican co-sponsors — all of whom have extensive experience serving in law enforcement. This builds off of the robust law enforcement support last year for the legislation from Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, the Fraternal Order of Police, the Sheriffs Association, and the District Attorneys Association. Representative Ensler is working to have a companion senate version of this bill.
Ensler said: “As I have said countless times, I recognize that laws alone will not save every life from gun violence — it starts at home and with a good moral foundation — but they can save some lives. For that reason we must have the moral courage to act and still pass a state-level ban on pistols converted into machine guns. We must send a clear message that we are working to enhance community safety and empower state law enforcement to deter and hold accountable use of these deadly devices in our communities.”
He continued, “This bill is just one in a large, comprehensive approach that must be taken to combat gun violence. I am proud that at the State I secured funding for conflict resolution programs in schools, resources to slow the school-to-prison pipeline, and much more to tackle some of the root causes of gun violence. We must continue and expand on these efforts. It is not a Democratic or Republican issue but a human issue.”
While these devices are banned on the federal level, “there is a need for a state-level offense so that local and state law enforcement — those most connected to our communities — can fight the proliferation of these killing machines in Alabama. The federal government can only take on so many cases, so a state offense would allow for greater deterrence and accountability from state district attorneys,” he said.
Moreover, the United States Supreme Court decision this summer on bump stocks has absolutely no bearing on legislative efforts in Alabama to ban pistols that are converted into machine guns with trigger activators — also commonly referred to as Glock switches.
“The court ruled on bump stocks, which are devices attached to rifles. HB26 in Alabama only deals with modifications to pistols. Glock switches and bump stocks are NOT the same and therefore should not be written about as being essentially the same or referred to interchangeably,” Ensler stated.
Additionally, the court’s decision focused on the technical aspects of who is the proper entity to enact such a ban. The court ruled that Congress must act through legislation to ban bump stocks. The ruling says that the legislature — not an executive agency through a regulation — must enact the ban.
Lastly, the ruling does not at all impact the long-existing federal ban on trigger activators.
As a lawyer focused on constitutional rights — in close consultation with Legislative Services Agency — Ensler is confident that a trigger activator ban under Alabama law is constitutional and not at all affected by the court ruling.
With that said, Ensler will continue to partner with law enforcement and residents of all political parties and backgrounds in Alabama to advance HB26. “Together, we can save lives.”
