Illinois Democrats are ramping up their war on gunmaker Glock with a new bill that would ban the sale of some of the most popular handguns in the country.
The city of Chicago is already suing the gunmaker, claiming it has refused to redesign its handguns to prevent them from being illegally converted to full-auto fire through the use of a small plastic switch. Officials are seeking, among other things, to block the sale of Glock handguns to Chicago residents, and now a pair of Illinois lawmakers have teamed up with Everytown and Moms Demand Action to enact that same ban via legislation.
HB 4045 and its companion bill in the Senate would allow anyone who knowingly manufactures, sells, offers to sell, purchases, receives, manufactures, imports, or transfers a “convertible pistol” to be charged with unlawful possession of a weapon; a class 4 felony in the state punishable by a minimum of one year in prison and up to three years behind bars and a $25,000 fine. If the bill becomes law, gun dealers in Illinois could still sell Glocks to law enforcement and the military (as well as private security protecting nuclear sites), but selling some of the most popular pistols in the country to we the people would be a criminal offense.
Illinois already banned the switches that convert semi-automatic pistols into fully-automatic firearms in the Protect Illinois Communities Act (along with banning “large capacity” magazines and so-called assault weapons”), but Everytown claims that HB 4045 is needed “as it is not possible to fully realize the rapid fire device ban unless you also target the firearms compatible with them.”
“Switches make handguns significantly more dangerous and it’s far beyond time we directly address the carnage they cause in our communities,” said State Representative Justin Slaughter, sponsor of HB 4045. “This legislation has two aims: keep our communities safe and incentivize the gun industry to produce safer products. We are excited to introduce this legislation to our colleagues in Springfield.”
“Guns modified with switches continue to show up at Illinois crime scenes and create carnage in Illinois communities,” said Debbie Theilig, a volunteer with the Illinois chapter of Moms Demand Action. “HB 4045 helps to cut off the flow of these deadly weapons at the source. We are grateful to sponsors Senator Celina Villanueva and Representative Justin Slaughter for introducing this critical legislation.”
Mere possession of a switch is already a crime under both state and federal law, so there are already tools in place to go after illicit traffickers who sell the switches on the black market and criminals who illegally convert their pistols to fire full-auto. Slaughter’s bill wouldn’t do anything to address the trigger pullers who are causing the damage he complains about. Instead, it would be average Illinois residents and federally licensed gun dealers who would feel the impact of his bill.
The Supreme Court ruled more than 15 years ago that bans on handguns violate the Constitution. So, instead of an outright ban on an entire class of firearms, gun control advocates are now adopting a piecemeal approach. Glock may be the current target of the anti-gunners, but they won’t stop there. Just as their definition of “assault weapon” has now been expanded to include every gas-operated semi-automatic long gun that can accept a detachable magazine (or has a fixed magazine of more than ten rounds), the definition of “convertible pistols” is like to expand beyond just Glocks in the not-too-distant future.
Blaming Glock for the criminal misuse of its product is like blaming Kia for thieves stealing their vehicles, or blaming Budweiser for drunk drivers. Lawmakers could increase the penalty for using a switch in the commission of a violent crime. Prosecutors could promise to send every case involving the use of a switch to their local U.S. Attorney’s Office so that suspects are facing longer sentences in federal court. Instead, Slaughter, his colleagues, and the gun control lobby are trying to make some of the most popular pistols in the country off-limits to everyone but police, the military, and those criminals willing to break the law in order to get their hands on one.
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