Birmingham, Jefferson County officials praise statewide ban on gun conversion devices

THE STATE. BUT THE BILL DOESN’T COME WITH MIXED REACTION TO ALABAMA’S NEWEST LAW BANNING GLOCK SWITCHES IN THE STATE. I CAN’T DETERMINE ONE REASON WHY A DEVICE THAT WOULD ALTER A PISTOL INTO A MACHINE GUN WOULD BE USABLE IN A CIVILIZED SOCIETY. NOT ONE REASON. SOME, LIKE JEFFERSON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY DANNY CARR, ARE EXCITED ABOUT WHAT HE CALLS BAD ACTORS BEING HELD ACCOUNTABLE, WHILE OTHERS AREN’T SURE IF THE LAW WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE. I DON’T REALLY THINK IT WILL CHANGE ANYTHING AS FAR AS SOLVING THE PROBLEM. I STILL THINK THE PROBLEM IS IN THE PEOPLE AND NOT THE SWITCH ITSELF. GUN SAFETY ADVOCATES LIKE BAMA CARRY BOARD MEMBER JAMES JONES SAY THE BILL NEEDED SOME WORK BEFORE THE ORGANIZATION COULD SUPPORT IT. IF YOU’RE IN POSSESSION OF IT OR ANY PIECE OF IT THAT THERE IS ACCOUNTABILITY FOR IT, AND THAT IS A CLASS C FELONY. AND THAT’S WHERE BAM ALCARAZ ISSUE IS. THE ORGANIZATION FEELS THE WORDING OF THE BILL IS TOO BROAD. A LOT OF ESPECIALLY PEOPLE THAT WORKS ON GUNS HAS DIFFERENT PARTS. JUST THERE. AND YOU COULD TAKE ANY COMBINATION OF PARTS AND MAKE MOST ANY GUN INTO A AUTOMATIC WEAPON. BUT CARR HOPES THE BILL BECOMING LAW WILL KEEP MORE INNOCENT PEOPLE FROM LOSING THEIR LIVES. WHETHER OR NOT YOU KNOW, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WILL MAKE THEM THINK TWICE. WE HOPE SO. MAYBE NOT. BUT THE MERE FACT THAT THERE WAS NOTHING ON THE BOOKS TO HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE IS ENOUGH TO NOW UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF WHY THIS BILL IS ON THE BOOKS. BUT JONES SAYS THERE ARE OTHER ISSUES IN THE LEGAL SYSTEM THAT NEED TO BE ADDRESSED IF THEY WANT TO GET THEM OFF THE STREETS, THEY COULD ALREADY ARREST THEM, BUT MOST OF THE TIME WHEN THEY DO, THEY’LL BE OUT IN A DAY OR TWO. NOW THAT THE BILL HAS BEEN SIGNED INTO LAW TO BAN GLOCK SWITCHES, CARR HOPES THAT THE STATE LEGISLATURE WILL WORK TO BRING PERMITS B

Updated: 7:39 PM CDT Mar 20, 2025

Editorial Standards ��

Birmingham, Jefferson County officials praise statewide ban on gun conversion devices

Updated: 7:39 PM CDT Mar 20, 2025

Editorial Standards ��

At a news conference Wednesday morning, Birmingham’s interim police chief announced several new arrests and talked about the new law Gov. Kay Ivey signed banning conversion devices or Glock switches.“This ban gives the Birmingham Police Department another tool to be able to address the illegal and extremely dangerous conversion devices on a state level,�� BPD interim police chief Michael Pickett said.Senate Bill 116 was effective as soon as it was signed. Before Ivey signed it, Glock switches were only illegal on a federal level. Now that the bill is law, anyone carrying the conversion device can be charged both federally and in the state.Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr said a Glock switch was used in the Hush Lounge mass shooting. Now, anyone found with a Glock switch can be charged with a class-C felony �� even if they’re not familiar with what the device is or does. It doesn’t even have to be attached to a gun to bring charges. Carr calls this another tool to hold people accountable and hopes it will send a strong message.“What they’ll see is that those individuals will be taken off the street, and maybe that’s a deterrent,�� he said. “Maybe not, but the one thing that we do know is that there’s now accountability, and hopefully, there’ll be real conversations about just not taking a pistol and using it in our communities or attaching a Glock switch to it and leaving carnage behind.”The bill doesn’t come without criticism from those who feel more needs to be done to get offenders off the street.“I don’t really think you’re changing anything as far as solving the problem,�� said James Jones, a Bama Carry board member. “I still think the problem is in the people and not the switch itself.”Now that the bill has been signed into law, Carr hopes the state legislature will work to bring permits to carry back to also crack down on gun violence.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. —

“This ban gives the Birmingham Police Department another tool to be able to address the illegal and extremely dangerous conversion devices on a state level,�� BPD interim police chief Michael Pickett said.

Senate Bill 116 was effective as soon as it was signed. Before Ivey signed it, Glock switches were only illegal on a federal level. Now that the bill is law, anyone carrying the conversion device can be charged both federally and in the state.

Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr said a Glock switch was used in the Hush Lounge mass shooting. Now, anyone found with a Glock switch can be charged with a class-C felony �� even if they’re not familiar with what the device is or does. It doesn’t even have to be attached to a gun to bring charges. Carr calls this another tool to hold people accountable and hopes it will send a strong message.

“What they’ll see is that those individuals will be taken off the street, and maybe that’s a deterrent,�� he said. “Maybe not, but the one thing that we do know is that there’s now accountability, and hopefully, there’ll be real conversations about just not taking a pistol and using it in our communities or attaching a Glock switch to it and leaving carnage behind.��

The bill doesn’t come without criticism from those who feel more needs to be done to get offenders off the street.

“I don’t really think you’re changing anything as far as solving the problem,�� said James Jones, a Bama Carry board member. “I still think the problem is in the people and not the switch itself.��

Now that the bill has been signed into law, Carr hopes the state legislature will work to bring permits to carry back to also crack down on gun violence.

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Birmingham, Jefferson County officials praise statewide ban on gun conversion devices

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