Birmingham puts Glock switch ban at top of legislative wishlist
Birmingham has two asks for the state legislature that it says will help address public safety in 2025: To ban Glock switches and to allow the city to opt out the Jefferson County Personnel Board.
The City Council adopted the legislative agenda on Dec. 17. Officials say the changes would help turn the tide on what has been the city’s deadliest year ever.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin has called on Alabama legislators to ban gun conversion devices such as Glock switches, especially after a Sept. 21 mass shooting at the Hush Lounge in Birmingham’s Five Points South entertainment district that killed four and left 17 injured.
“Converting a semi-automatic weapon into a fully automatic weapon that discharges all bullets within seconds doesn’t belong on our domestic streets,” Woodfin said.
Devices that turn a handgun into a machine gun are considered illegal, but local prosecutors say it is difficult to use a federal law to crack down on violent shootings.
Though illegal under federal law, there is no state law that makes Glock switches illegal.
Woodfin said that needs to change and called for a ban with a 10-year sentence for anyone caught with a switch, 25 years for a person who shoots someone using a switch and survives, and an automatic life sentence if the victim dies.
“We, all of us, as a community owe it to (the victims and their families) to do everything we can to take these shooters, these killers, off our streets,’’ he said. “This is a solvable problem…. But you’ve got to give us the tools to solve these issues.”
A bill to ban devices that convert semi-automatic handguns to automatic fire has support from Alabama lawmakers in both parties, even in a statehouse generally leery of any restrictions on firearms.
Support from Republicans in the House and Senate will be crucial for HB26, prefiled 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.
The 2025 Legislative Agenda for the City of Birmingham adopted Dec. 17 includes:
- Enabling legislation that prohibits Glock switches and any combination of parts designed to convert a firearm into a machine gun
- Alabama Land Bank amendment to shorten the redemption period for delinquent tax properties
- Facilitating enforcement on dumping and weed abatement
- Foreclosure authority on properties that are nuisances
- Legislation that will allow the City of Birmingham to opt out of the Jefferson County Personnel Board for specific employee classifications
- Enabling legislation to create the Birmingham Housing Trust Fund
- Enabling legislation that will allow Class 1 municipalities the authority to enact and enforce maintenance standards for vacant properties.