MONTGOMERY — Legislation that would make murder and assault punishable by life imprisonment if the offender used a machine gun passed the Alabama Senate with little dissent on Thursday.
Senate Bill 32 by State Sen. Rodger Smitherman (D-Birmingham) would require any person who causes the death of another person using a machine gun under certain circumstances to be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole if the defendant was 18 years of age or older at the time of the offense and to either life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or life imprisonment if the defendant was under 18 years of age at the time of the offense.
The bill would also provide that assault in the first degree and assault in the second degree where a machine gun is used is a Class A felony and the person shall be sentenced to life imprisonment.
The bill defines a machine gun as: “Any firearm that shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, more than one shot automatically without manual reloading and by a single function of the trigger. Any part or combination of parts intended solely for use in converting a firearm into a machine gun. Any combination of parts from which a machine gun can be assembled if the parts are in the possession or control of a person.” Under the definition, a handgun using a Glock switch would be considered a machine gun.
An amendment brought by State Sen. Chris Elliott (R-Josephine) was added to the legislation before the bill passed.
The amendment specifies the machine gun definition “does not include the following: Any part, combination of parts, or device that is designed or intended to increase a firearm's rate of fire but that does not enable a semiautomatic firearm to fire more than two shots, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.”
State Sen. Lance Bell (R-Pell City) was the lone no vote against the bill. It now goes to the House for consideration.
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