SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Since the beginning of the legislative session, the gun lobby and gun industry have worked closely together to stop AB 1127, which aims to prevent the spread of DIY machine guns, spreading misinformation and smearing the life-saving policy to protect their profits. As the final week of votes begins, here’s all you need to know.
“AB 1127 is all about choice. Gun makers must choose to make safer pistols that can’t be easily converted into machine guns or stop selling them in California. Senator McGuire must choose to either yield to the gun lobby or protect communities from gun violence,” said Greg Lickenbrock, senior firearms analyst at Everytown for Gun Safety. “The gun industry’s bottom line is to make money, regardless of how many people are killed. Lawmakers’ bottom line should be safety. This bill could transform gun safety in California and across the nation at a time where switch recoveries have become far too common. The stakes couldn’t be any clearer.”
Why the Gun Industry is Furious:
- MONEY IS EVERYTHING: Gun makers have reportedly known that some of their pistols are so easy to convert into machine guns since the 1980s, when the pistols began hitting the U.S. market. Yet they have chosen profits over safety and ignored pleas for action.The inventor of the switch has since stated, on record, that he regrets his invention and filing for a patent — which was initially intended to help the military, but since its expiration has given bad actors blueprints to exactly replicate the initial creation
- NO ACCOUNTABILITY: Gun makers have refused to take action despite deadly shootings with their weapons converted into DIY machine guns, all while telling reporters that they cannot alter their pistols to prevent switches from being installed — contradicting former employees and ignoring the fact that most other handguns in the market are incompatible with switches.
- A SIMPLE CHOICE: AB 1127 gives gun makers two options — fix their reckless designs or stop selling in California. If companies want access to the largest gun market in the country, they’ll have to make safer pistols that cannot be turned into weapons of war with $25 or a screwdriver.
Why Senate Pro Tempore McGuire Should Bring AB 1127 to a Vote:
- STOP DIY MACHINE GUNS: The legislation, introduced by Asm. Jesse Gabriel, would prohibit gun dealers from selling pistols that can be easily converted into fully automatic weapons at home through the simple installation of a switch, which enables pistols to fire at a rate of up to 1,200 rounds per minute.
- A GROWING CRISIS: In 2024, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) announced that it had recovered more than 31,000 machine gun conversion devices across the nation, including switches, in the past five years. Recoveries of machine gun conversion devices by police, including Glock switches, increased by 784% between 2019 and 2023.
- HONOR SURVIVORS AND VICTIMS WITH ACTIONS: In 2022, in Sacramento, a DIY Glock pistol converted into a machine gun was involved in a gun battle that tragically resulted in six fatalities and twelve injuries. Officers at the scene recovered more than 110 shell casings.
- AB 1127 PROTECTS BUSINESS INVENTORY: Gun dealers will still be allowed to sell their inventory of the pistols outlined by the bill that they acquired before the law goes into effect, avoiding sudden financial losses and giving them time to adjust — a balanced approach that supports small businesses while improving public safety.
What’s Next:
- Lawmakers have until Friday, September 12, to bring AB 1127 for a vote. Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers will be talking and visiting with lawmakers throughout the week to urge the passage of this life-saving legislation.
More information about the gun safety laws championed by Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers in California is available here. Statistics about gun violence in California are available here, and Everytown’s Gun Law Navigator – which shows how California’s gun laws compare to those of other states – is available here.
To speak with a policy expert at Everytown or a local volunteer with Moms Demand Action or Student Demand Action, please reach out to [email protected].