Alabama lawmakers approve a ban on devices that convert semi-automatic weapons into machine guns

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Alabama lawmakers on Tuesday authorized a ban on Glock switches and different conversion units that convert semi-automatic weapons into machine weapons, after a lethal yr that included a number of mass shootings.

A bipartisan coalition pushed the Alabama laws after a number of a number of mass shootings final yr, together with the taking pictures deaths of 4 folks outdoors a Birmingham nightclub in September. The units are already banned below federal regulation, however there’s at the moment no state regulation that bans them.

The Alabama Senate voted 24-2 to simply accept the House of Representatives adjustments to the invoice. The measure now goes to Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, who is predicted to signal it after calling for its passage in her State of the State handle.

“Passing gun security laws in Alabama shouldn’t be simple. However the exhausting work of constructing a bipartisan coalition has resulted within the passage of this life-saving laws,” mentioned state Rep. Phillip Ensler, a Montgomery Democrat, who had urged the measure for 3 years.

“Whereas legal guidelines can not carry again victims of gun violence, this ban may also help save lives transferring ahead,” he mentioned.

Republican state Sen. Will Barfoot of Pike Highway sponsored the invoice that was authorized this yr. Possessing or promoting the units can be a Class C felony punishable by as much as 10 years in jail.

The measure will take impact instantly whether it is signed into regulation.

The units are banned below federal regulation and in 23 states, in accordance with Everytown for Gun Security. Supporters mentioned a state ban will enable native regulation enforcement to prosecute folks for the possession of the units. Police say the units produce a fast, hard-to-control spray of bullets that improve the variety of casualties throughout a taking pictures.

The invoice handed with out vital opposition, a uncommon consensus on gun laws within the deeply purple state. Alabama lawmakers in 2022 voted to finish the requirement to get a allow to hold a hid handgun in public.

Alabama has one of many highest charges of gun violence within the U.S. In 2022, there have been 1,278 gun-related deaths in Alabama, which was the fourth-highest gun demise fee within the nation, rating beneath Mississippi, Louisiana and New Mexico.

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