{"id":4938,"date":"2025-03-19T01:01:18","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T01:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/?p=4938"},"modified":"2025-03-19T01:01:20","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T01:01:20","slug":"lawmakers-approve-ban-on-devices-that-convert-semi-automatic-weapons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/?p=4938","title":{"rendered":"Lawmakers approve ban on devices that convert semi-automatic weapons"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MONTGOMERY, Ala. — <\/span>Alabama lawmakers on Tuesday approved a ban on Glock switches and other conversion devices that convert semi-automatic weapons into machine guns, after a deadly year that included multiple mass shootings. <\/p>\n

A bipartisan coalition<\/a> pushed the Alabama legislation after several multiple mass shootings last year, including the shooting deaths of four people outside a Birmingham nightclub<\/a> in September. The devices are already banned under federal law, but there\u2019s currently no state law that bans them.<\/p>\n

The Alabama Senate voted 24-2 to accept the House of Representatives changes to the bill.<\/a> The measure now goes to Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, who is expected to sign it after calling for its passage<\/a> in her State of the State address. <\/p>\n

\u201cPassing gun safety legislation in Alabama is not easy. But the hard work of building a bipartisan coalition has resulted in the passage of this life-saving legislation,\u201d said state Rep. Phillip Ensler, a Montgomery Democrat, who had urged the measure for three years. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile laws cannot bring back victims of gun violence, this ban can help save lives moving forward,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Republican state Sen. Will Barfoot of Pike Road sponsored the bill that was approved this year. Possessing or selling the devices would be a Class C felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. <\/p>\n

The measure will take effect immediately if it is signed into law. <\/p>\n

The devices are banned under federal law and in 23 states, according to Everytown for Gun Safety. Supporters said a state ban will allow local law enforcement to prosecute people for the possession of the devices. Police say the devices produce a rapid, hard-to-control spray of bullets that increase the number of casualties during a shooting.<\/p>\n

The bill passed without significant opposition, a rare consensus on gun legislation in the deeply red state. Alabama lawmakers in 2022 voted to end the requirement to get a permit to carry a concealed handgun in public.<\/p>\n

Alabama has one of the highest rates of gun violence in the U.S. In 2022, there were 1,278 gun-related deaths in Alabama, which was the fourth-highest gun death rate<\/a> in the country, ranking below Mississippi, Louisiana and New Mexico.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama lawmakers on Tuesday approved a ban on Glock switches and other conversion devices that convert semi-automatic weapons into machine guns, after a deadly year that included multiple mass shootings. A bipartisan coalition pushed the Alabama legislation after several multiple mass shootings last year, including the shooting deaths of four people outside […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4938"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4940,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4938\/revisions\/4940"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}