SPRINGFIELD, IL – Last week, the Illinois legislature reintroduced HB 4471/SB 2801, a critical public safety measure which would prohibit the future sale to civilians of semi-automatic handguns that can be easily converted into fully automatic machine guns with the installation of a “switch” or auto sear. The policy, sponsored by Senator Celina Villanueva and State Representative Justin Slaughter, addresses a growing public safety crisis around the state.
From 2021-2024, Chicago police have recovered more than 1,600 switches. These modified pistols have appeared at countless scenes of deadly shootings, including a mass shooting in 2022 that killed two people and wounded seven, and another in 2023 that wounded eight people. Chicago authorities also believe that DIY machine guns were used in the killings of at least three law enforcement officers: Chicago officers Aréanah Preston and Luis Huesca, and Cook County Deputy Rafael Wordlaw. In Chicago alone, the city has seen a 15-fold increase in machine-gun conversion device recoveries since 2019, with nearly half linked to shootings.
“No mother should have to worry that their neighborhood will turn into a battlefield because a gun manufacturer chose profit over public safety,” said Nakia Johnson, a volunteer with the Illinois chapter of Moms Demand Action and a fellow with the Everytown Survivor Network. Johnson was shot and injured in October 2012 . “Machine guns have been illegal in Illinois and across the country for decades, yet some companies continue to sell pistols that are easily converted into fully automatic weapons capable of emptying a magazine in seconds. This isn’t just about closing a loophole; it’s about demanding that gun manufacturers stop treating our lives as acceptable collateral damage for their profits.”
“My generation is growing up in a world where illegal machine guns can flood our streets because certain gun companies choose to keep selling dangerous designs,” said Sarah Bleill, a volunteer with the Central High School chapter of Students Demand Action. Bleill is also a survivor of the Highland Park parade mass shooting. “We are tired of being the ones who have to look over our shoulders at school and in our neighborhoods while the gun industry looks the other way. This bill is a clear signal that Illinois won’t let technology outpace our safety. We’re standing up to say that our future is worth more than a manufacturer’s refusal to improve the safety of their pistols. It’s time to stop the flow of these rapid-fire weapons before another tragedy strikes.”
For years, it has been an open secret in the gun industry that certain manufacturers utilize semi-automatic pistol designs that are uniquely susceptible to being converted into illegal machine guns with just a screwdriver and a $25 switch. While many manufacturers have acted responsibly, others, including Glock, have knowingly continued to sell models that are easily modified into fully automatic weapons capable of firing at a rate of up to 1,200 rounds per minute or 20 rounds per second. With this measure, Illinois is sending a clear message: if you refuse to take reasonable, common-sense steps to change the configuration of these pistols, you will no longer profit from the Illinois market. Building on the momentum of legislation recently signed into law in California, Illinois is taking a proactive stand against the rapid-fire technology that has increasingly fueled mass shootings and police ambushes across the state. We are closing the door on companies that prioritize their bottom line over the lives of our neighbors and first responders.
Background
In order to fully enforce the provision of the Protect Illinois Communities Act (PICA) passed in 2023 banning rapid-fire devices, Illinois needs to regulate the firearms that make it easy for criminals to subvert state and federal law. Glock and other gun manufacturers who have failed to update their pistol design should stop putting their profits before Americans’ lives and fix this problem.
Illinois law banning machine guns and machine gun conversion devices, as well as PICA, which included a ban on a full range of these aftermarket rapid-fire devices, were enacted to keep our families and communities safe. However, Glock and other gunmakers who use the same design have continued to manufacture pistols in a way that makes them especially easy to convert into illegal machine guns at home with nothing more than a screwdriver and a tiny rapid-fire conversion device called a “switch.”
While these switches are illegal to possess under federal and state law, they can still easily be purchased for as little as $25 or 3D printed at home. Though gunmakers that manufacture convertible pistols do not manufacture or sell switches themselves, they have known about this problem for years but continue to sell their easily convertible pistols. Many pistols made by other major manufacturers, including Smith & Wesson, Sig Sauer, and Taurus, cannot be converted into machine guns with switches. Aside from Glocks, the only other pistols that may be modified with switches are Glock clones that use Glock-style trigger bars, including ghost guns made by Polymer80.
The consequences of the gun industry’s inaction are devastating: These modified pistols equipped with switches have become a weapon of choice for criminals and are increasingly turning up at crime scenes in Illinois and across the country, leading to more automatic gunfire in our communities. Modified pistols and switches have been recovered or used in crimes across the state of Illinois, including in Chicago, Waukegan, East St. Louis, Peoria, Bloomington, Rockford, and Joliet.