A mass shooting in Birmingham that left four dead and 17 others injured Saturday night has led to renewed calls from Democrat leaders for a state ban on Glock switches.
Switches or conversion kits can be used on some handguns, like the Glock 17, to allow them to fire fully automatic with one continuous pull of the trigger. Due to the number of casualties and bullets found at the scene at Five Points South, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin believes a switch or conversion was used.
During a press conference Sunday, he said he wanted to work with the state to ban such devices and give police the tools they need to get killers off the street, regardless of what people think about Second Amendment rights.
Woodfin admitted that Birmingham was "at the tip of the spear" of a "gun violence epidemic" in America, but he said the problem is solvable.
"Now, some would say I'm getting too political, but I am a politician, so I need to speak the truth and publicly share my thoughts and what I'm feeling so people can understand what's at stake here," he said.
Woodfin referenced the Federal Assault Weapons Ban enacted from 1994 to 2004 and said gun violence was at an all-time low while it was in place. Switches and conversion are still illegal under federal law, but Woodfin argued not enough resources are allocated to enforcement.
"We don't have any interest in this whole debate about Second Amendment rights," he said. "We don't have any interest in people wanting to protect their homes, militia, whatever else you want to say. There's a certain element in this city, there's a certain element in this community, who are too comfortable riding around with semi-automatic weapons, automatic weapons, conversions, switches and everything else whose only intent, hellbent intent, is to harm people, shoot people, kill people."
He continued, "We are prepared to be overly aggressive, dogmatic, if you will, and go after every shooter in the city. But as it stands, they can ride around without a permit. They can ride around with any type of gun. Again, if you want to protect your home, cool, but what are you going to do for us, people you say are responsible for public safety?"
State Rep. Phillip Ensler (D-Montgomery) and Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed, whose city has also been plagued by gun violence, also supported the idea of banning Glock switches.
Late Sunday, House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels (D-Huntsville) also called for a Glock switch ban and a repeal of Alabama's constitutional carry law.
"We must take immediate and meaningful actions like banning Glock switches and repealing the horrific permitless concealed gun carry law in order to keep these weapons from those who should never have them in the first place. This isn't a culture war issue over the right to own a gun, this is about the safety of everyone. People have simply had enough of senseless and often preventable gun violence."
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