Alabama Senate advances crime bills targeting ‘Glock switches,' bail

Yahoo

26-02-2025

Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, speaks to the Alabama Senate on Feb. 12, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. Barfoot's bills banning "Glock switches" and expanding bail restrictions now moves to the Alabama House. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)
The Alabama Senate passed a series of crime bills Tuesday targeting 'Glock switch' devices and expanding bail restrictions under Aniah's Law.
The bills' passage comes after Gov. Kay Ivey urged support for a public safety package in a press conference with mayors, legislators and law enforcement soon after the session started.
Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike, sponsored two crime-related measures approved by the Senate, including legislation banning machine gun conversion devices, often referred to as Glock switches.
'Members, you may recall that the governor in her State of the State speech discussed this very bill,' he said. 'I want to give credit where credit is due. There are lots of people who had a hand in trying to craft this piece of legislation to get it to the point that it is now.'
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Rep. Phillip Ensler, D-Montgomery, sponsored a similar bill in the past two legislative sessions. The bill cleared the House in 2024 but failed to reach the Senate. Ensler, who was present on the Senate floor Tuesday, said in a statement after the vote that he was grateful for the bill's passage.
'After not coming up for a vote in the Senate last year, I worked hard in between sessions to secure the necessary support for it to pass in the Senate. It was important that we had a strategy to pass it relatively early on in the upper chamber this year,' Ensler said.
SB 116, sponsored by Barfoot, criminalizes the possession of Glock switches, which are already illegal under federal law. But Barfoot said the measure allows local and state law enforcement officers to make arrests under state law. It passed 28-0.
The bill does not expand federal law but provides additional enforcement tools at the state level, he said.
'This gives them that tool so that during a detainment or a stop, if they're in possession of that, they can confiscate that item, hold it until the case is over,' Barfoot said.
Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, said 'this isn't a partisan issue — it's about public safety.'
'If it's somebody standing right there, that [someone is] trying to shoot at, I guarantee you, with that [Glock] switch on there, everybody that's standing over there is going to get shot. Everybody. Because the bullet is going to go everywhere,' he said.
The Senate also passed SB 118, a proposed constitutional amendment expanding Aniah's Law, which allows judges to deny bail in certain cases. The bill, also sponsored by Barfoot, adds shooting at an occupied building, and conspiracy and solicitation to murder to the list of offenses eligible for bail denial. The bill passed 29-0.
'I do think that this is an important piece of the puzzle, that procedurally, those judges have two more different charges that they can look at and determine based on the evidence presented to them whether or not somebody should be afforded bail,' Barfoot said.
Another bill in the package was delayed for further discussion: SB 119 would provide procedural guidelines for expanded bail restrictions and penalties for those who violate bond conditions by possessing firearms.
Smitherman, who asked for further review, said they should be thorough when writing legislation so they don't generate unintentional consequences.
'I think that is good what we're trying to do. But at the same time, there are some other elements that I think we have to consider,' he said.
The bill would also change the timeframe for hearings under Aniah's Law and allow courts to determine bail eligibility.
'It's important to balance the rights of the accused with the need to protect the public,' Barfoot said.
Despite concerns over legislative procedures, the bills received bipartisan backing and moved to the House.
'It's been a collaborative effort — law enforcement, the governor's office, both the House and Senate and across the aisle, Republicans and Democrats,' Barfoot said.
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