Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action Respond to the Introduction of HB 4045/SB 2652 Which Incentivizes Gun Manufacturers to Innovate Toward Safety on Annual Advocacy Day in Springfield
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots network, issued the following statements after the unveiling of a new bill to stop the spread of illegal DIY machine guns in Illinois. Introduced by State Senator Celina Villanueva and State Representative Justin Slaughter, House Bill 4045/ Senate Bill 2652 would prohibit gun dealers from selling firearms to civilians that can be easily converted into automatic weapons through the use of so-called switches, which enable pistols to fire up to 1,200 rounds per minute. The bill would incentivize gun manufacturers to create safer handguns that cannot be so easily converted into DIY machine guns. The bill will not affect law enforcement nor force current owners of these weapons to relinquish their firearms. The House version of the bill was introduced today, on annual Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action Advocacy Day, where over a hundred volunteer advocates descended on the state capitol to advocate for critical gun violence prevention bills, including this policy and the Homicide Victims’ Families’ Rights Act and Data Transparency, HB 3632 and HB1710/SB 1587.
“Guns modified with switches continue to steal the lives of our community members, and it is time we stop the sale of easily converted pistols and incentivize the gun industry to build safer weapons that can’t be so easily converted into machine guns,” said Illinois State Senator Celina Villanueva, sponsor of SB 2652. “DIY machine guns have no place in our state. This policy makes that crystal clear.”
“Switches make handguns significantly more dangerous and it’s far beyond time we directly address the carnage they cause in our communities,” said State Representative Justin Slaughter, sponsor of HB 4045. “This legislation has two aims: keep our communities safe and incentivize the gun industry to produce safer products. We are excited to introduce this legislation to our colleagues in Springfield.”
“Guns modified with switches continue to show up at Illinois crime scenes and create carnage in Illinois communities,” said Debbie Theilig, a volunteer with the Illinois chapter of Moms Demand Action. “HB 4045 helps to cut off the flow of these deadly weapons at the source. We are grateful to sponsors Senator Celina Villanueva and Representative Justin Slaughter for introducing this critical legislation.”
“Holding the gun industry accountable for its deadly practices is crucial in our fight to prevent gun violence,” said Matthew Jamil, student leader from the Northwestern University Students Demand Action chapter. “Machine guns are illegal in Illinois, but gun retailers and manufacturers can’t just turn a blind eye when their products are easily converted into these types of lethal weapons. My generation is known as the ‘mass shooting’ generation because of devices like switches that can way too easily turn a gun into a machine gun.”
For decades, the gun industry has known that certain types of pistols are especially susceptible to being quickly and easily converted into illegal machine guns – with just a screwdriver and a $25 switch – and refused to do anything about it. Illinois lawmakers are taking targeted action and telling gun retailers and manufacturers, loudly and clearly, that they will be forced to stop selling easily convertible pistols in Illinois and that they need to make their guns safer. Modified, fully automatic pistols are deadlier because they allow shooters to spray bullets with a single pull of the trigger, endangering bystanders.
DIY Machine Guns by the Numbers:
- Modified pistols can fire up to 1,200 rounds per minute.
- Across the country, machine gun conversion device recoveries increased by 784% between 2019 and 2023, a figure that includes switches.
- From the beginning of 2021 through May 2024, over 1,300 Modified Glocks have been recovered by the Chicago Police Department.
A growing number of cities and states are examining Glock’s role in perpetuating and worsening the gun violence epidemic. In the last year, Everytown Law filed lawsuits on behalf of the City of Chicago and the City of Baltimore and State of Maryland against Glock. While Glock does not manufacture or sell Glock switches themselves, the lawsuits seek to hold the company accountable for its role in facilitating the proliferation of illegal machine guns by making and selling semiautomatic pistols that can be easily converted to fire fully automatically with Glock switches.
Lawmakers in New York, California, and Maryland have introduced similar pieces of legislation – all to hold the industry accountable for refusing to stop the spread of DIY machine guns.
Illinois continues to lead the nation with the third strongest gun laws, and HB 4045 will help build on that momentum. Two years ago, Illinois lawmakers passed the Protect Illinois Community Act, which banned assault weapons, high capacity magazines, and rapid fire devices like switches. HB 4045 will build on this critical law by helping to enforce the Protect Illinois Community Act as it is not possible to fully realize the rapid fire device ban unless you also target the firearms compatible with them.
Statistics about gun violence in Illinois are available here.