Alabama Senate approves bill to criminalize machine-gun conversion devices after friendly amendment

The Alabama Senate on Feb. 25 passed Senate Bill 116 to criminalize machine-gun conversion devices and give state and local law enforcement authority to arrest and prosecute possession of those devices under state law.

Senator Barfoot, sponsor of SB116, said federal law already bans machine-gun conversion devices but that state law lacked an on-scene statutory basis to arrest and prosecute when officers encounter such devices outside a federal task force. Barfoot described the devices as converting semiautomatic pistols to fully automatic fire and said the bill protects constitutional firearms rights while addressing devices that facilitate automatic fire.

Senator Smitherman offered an amendment that the floor described as "friendly." The amendment replaced language in the bill to remove a requiring-knowledge element and instead made possession of the components or combinations that form a conversion device a basis for enforcement. After unanimous-consent procedures, the Senate adopted Smitherman's amendment. "It would give law enforcement the ability to take into account the possession of those pieces or combination of pieces that would make up a machine gun conversion device," a supporter said on the floor.

After debate and the amendment's adoption, the Senate adopted final passage of SB116. The clerk recorded the vote as 28 ayes, 0 nays; the bill passed as amended.