Two bills to ban Glock switches in the state were approved Wednesday by the Alabama Senate Committee on Judiciary.

Under SB 116, brought forth by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Montgomery, possessing any part or combination of parts designed or intended to convert a pistol into a machine gun would become a Class C felony, punishable by a term between 366 days and 10 years, according to state code.

And Sen. Rodger Smitherman’s SB31 would make it a Class C felony to “knowingly possess a machine gun, including the frame or receiver of any such weapon, any part intended to convert a firearm into a machine gun [like a Glock switch], and parts from which a machine gun may be assembled.”

Smitherman said the tragic Sept. 21 mass shooting at Birmingham’s Hush Lounge, which killed four and left 17 injured, motivated him to draft the new legislation.

“We’ve got to remove these people off the streets so our citizens won’t be afraid that if they go somewhere, something will happen to them,” he said.

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin attended the committee meeting and pushed for an automatic 10-year prison penalty for possession of a conversion device.

“In Birmingham and in other cities across the state there are too many grieving mothers who have lost their child because of the use of these machine gun devices,” he said.

“Too many children have lost parents because of these machine gun conversion devices…Birmingham would not have had its deadliest year on record if these devices had not been used.”

Currently, there is no state law that makes Glock switches illegal, although they are illegal federally.

While he has authored a bill to outlaw these devices, Barfoot said Wednesday that individuals are to blame for the gun violence that has impacted the state and the nation for the last several years.

“Make no mistake about it,” he said.

“Guns and conversion devices are not the real problem. The real problem are the people who use those.”

“But this gives the tools to the local folks to get the job done and take those out of the hands of those violent criminals who possess those and use those.”

Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, agreed, but argued that the state could do more in terms of gun control.

“I think that we took away the law enforcement’s tools a couple of years ago when we gave permitless carry, now we don’t know who the bad people are that have the guns,” he said.

“Because we just can’t stop and ask them about their gun. If the police had that tool in their toolbox…maybe we’d have a better tool to be able to stop them before we get to that point.”

Barfoot pointed out that under existing law, an Alabamian may not lawfully possess a firearm if the person has been convicted of a violent crime, but Singleton argued that the state should be able to better regulate firearm access before it gets to that point.