Alabama Senate approves bill to make possessing a conversion device a felony

The Alabama Senate on Tuesday approved a bill that would create a Class C felony for anyone found to be in the possession of Glock switches and other conversion devices.

SB116, introduced by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, would make possessing any part or combination of pieces designed to convert a pistol into a machine-gun punishable by a sentence ranging from one year and one day to 10 years in prison. 

The bill defines a machine-gun as “any weapon which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.”

No state law makes Glock switches illegal, though they are already banned under federal law. SB116 would simply introduce harsher state penalties and allow for law enforcement officers to enforce the ban on conversion devices. 

“Already, under federal law, these conversion devices are illegal. We’re giving our local law enforcement the ability to arrest and prosecute these folks who take these conversion devices and convert a semi-automatic, legal pistol into a fully automatic weapon,” said Barfoot.

The bill was amended on the floor to enforce penalties for possessing a machine-gun conversion device, even if that person was not “knowingly” in possession of one. It passed as amended with a vote of 28-0.

Barfoot acknowledged Rep. Philip Ensler, D-Montgomery, for his efforts in introducing the House version of the bill earlier this month and beginning work on the legislation in years prior. A similar bill failed to pass in the Alabama Senate last year, but a bipartisan coalition is pushing for its passage this legislative session.

“I am grateful that the Alabama Senate unanimously voted to pass our Glock switch bill to ban devices that convert pistols into machine-guns,” Ensler said in a release. “I now look forward to us moving this important piece of legislation forward in the House and then it being signed into law.” 

Governor Kay Ivey called for a state ban on these devices in her State of the State address, as part of the “Safer Alabama” bill package designed to bolster public safety and combat gun violence.