CT House approves ban on selling pistols that convert to ‘machine guns’
The move comes as police seize a growing number of deadly "Glock switches," which can turn a pistol into an automatic weapon. Gov. Ned Lamont hopes the law pushes Glock to change its design.
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One thousand rounds a minute.
That's what a handgun can fire when it is outfitted with a tiny piece of plastic called a "Glock switch."
Now state lawmakers are taking action.
The Connecticut House of Representatives voted to ban sales of new Glocks and other “convertible pistols” on Wednesday, until the company redesigns its handguns.
But critics said the ban will do little to get dangerous guns off the streets.
“MACHINE GUNS”
Glock switches are illegal – but at $25, they're cheap and easy to make.
“You can order it off the internet,” retired FBI Special Agent-In-Charge John DeVito said. “Print it in your backyard.”
Handguns include a mechanism preventing them from firing multiple rounds at once; Glock switches suppress that mechanism.
“Machine guns are illegal in Connecticut and they’re illegal in every other state in the country, but they are still showing up on our streets,” said state Rep. Steve Stafstrom (D-Bridgeport). "Generally, Glock model guns that can be easily converted into fully automatic weapons."
The legislation does not single-out Glock, but the company's simplified firing assembly makes it uniquely susceptible to tampering.
“It’s any pistol manufacturer that creates a gun that can be easily converted into a machine gun,” Gov. Ned Lamont told reporters. “If there’s one manufacturer in particular that’s much more at risk there, clean up your act.”
The federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms recovered more than 5,849 conversion devices between 2017 and 2021 – a 719% increase. In Connecticut, Hartford police seized 51 of them between 2023 and 2024.
NEW SALES BANNED?
Glock is one of the nation’s most common handguns, but retailers would be prohibited from selling new “convertible pistols” after Oct. 1.
Owners could keep their existing handguns – and sell them.
"If you currently own a Glock, nobody is coming to confiscate it. It's not illegal to own your Glock," Stafstrom said. “No one who currently has a Glock is going to have to get rid of that gun.”
Republicans think the ban won’t work, noting that Glock switches are already illegal but are still showing up on the streets anyway.
“It’s like trying to pin down Jello-O,” said Connecticut House GOP leader Vin Candelora (R-North Branford). “So they could pass every law in the books to regulate guns and restrict guns and prohibit the purchase of guns. It doesn't actually accomplish, I think, what we want to see, and that is a reduction of gun violence.”
Critics noted that “convertible pistols” could still be purchased out-of-state and brought into Connecticut legally. There is also no exception for police to purchase new Glocks for law enforcement purposes.
“Let’s do the easy thing – the political thing – and just keep banning weapons that are just going to be manufactured to get around these laws,” Candelora said.
The legislation also strengthens Connecticut’s existing bans on “bump stocks” and ghost guns,” which are untraceable firearms assembled from a kit.
WHAT’S NEXT?
The bill now heads to the state Senate, where it is expected to pass easily.
“I look forward to signing it as soon as it comes to my desk,” Lamont said Wednesday afternoon. “I don’t know why anybody wants to make it easier to take a pistol and turn it into a machine gun. We’re trying to go the opposite direction.”
Glock did not respond to a request for comment.
The National Rifle Association is challenging a similar law in California. New York and several other states are considering bans of Glock sales, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal is pushing for more money for the ATF in Congress.
