VICTORY FOR GUN SAFETY: Governor Kathy Hochul Signs Six Bills Into Law Following Advocacy from Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action
10.9.2024
Included in Today’s Package is a Measure That Will Strengthen New York’s First-In-The-Nation Law to Hold the Firearm Industry Accountable
NEW YORK – Today, the New York chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots network, released the following statements applauding Governor Kathy Hochul for signing six critical gun safety bills into law, including a measure that will strengthen the state’s first-in-the-nation industry accountability law to explicitly require firearm manufacturers to take steps to ensure their handguns cannot be easily turned into machine guns with Glock switches. Volunteers with Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action were present for today’s signing at the Javits Center.
“New York has long been a national leader on gun safety, and Governor Hochul and the gun sense majority in Albany are bolstering that legacy with this lifesaving package of bills,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “For too long, the gun industry has been getting away with murder — but now gun violence survivors in New York will have an important new tool to hold Glock accountable for fueling the spread of machine guns.”
“New York has always been a leader in the fight against gun violence – and today Governor Hochul has once again demonstrated her commitment and steadfast partnership in this fight,” said Alexis Gevanter, a volunteer with the New York chapter of Moms Demand Action. “Our lawmakers know that every life taken by gun violence is preventable, and that we can’t rest so long as any of our communities continue to grieve these tragedies. From further holding the firearm industry accountable to strengthening our Extreme Risk law, these laws are going to make a difference in our communities. We’re grateful to Governor Hochul for signing these measures into law, and to our gunsense champions in the legislature for getting them to her desk.”
“America is stuck in a deadly cycle, a cycle that’s now become the leading cause of death for my generation: Gun violence,” said Reem Khalifa, a Students Demand Action National Organizing Board member from New York. “But even in the face of tragedy, young people like me have hope that we can build a safer future. That hope comes from days like today, by getting to see the policies we fought and advocated for become law. So we’ll keep fighting until students across the country can live free from gun violence.”
The Measures Signed Into Law Today Include:
- Legislation to update New York’s landmark gun industry accountability law to explicitly require firearm manufacturers to take steps to ensure their handguns cannot be easily turned into machine guns with Glock switches (S7365B/ A10053A);
- Legislation to require issuers of credit and debit cards to create a new merchant category code for firearms dealers (S8479A/ A9862A);
- Legislation to require licensing officers to provide secure storage information when issuing firearms licenses and to require the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) to implement a public awareness and education campaign about New York’s secure storage laws (S9760/A10356A);
- Legislation to require extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs) be included in a central statewide registry so that law enforcement has quick and easy access to critical information about who is prohibited from purchasing and possessing firearms under state law (S3340/A5873);
- Legislation to amend the definition of “petitioner” under New York State’s extreme risk protection order statute so that law enforcement agencies can petition for a court order in addition to individual officers (S8589A/A7717B); and
- Legislation to require firearms dealers to post and provide written warnings to purchasers about the dangers posed by access to firearms in the home (S6649/A2882).
Included in today’s package of measures signed into law is a first-in-the-nation measure to hold Glock and other firearm manufacturers explicitly accountable when their handguns are designed in such a way that they can be easily turned into machine guns with Glock switches. According to research conducted by Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, Glock is the nation’s number one manufacturer of recovered crime guns. On average, twice as many Glocks were recovered at crime scenes than the second-leading manufacturer in 2023.
Glock handguns are uniquely easy to convert into illegal machine guns using “Glock switches.” Glock has allegedly been aware of this lethal vulnerability for decades but has done nothing to update its pistol design. Make no mistake, this is an issue unique to Glock. Pistols made by other large manufacturers require extensive engineering beyond the average person’s capabilities to convert their handguns into machine guns, but a Glock handgun can easily be converted into an illegal machine gun with a $25 Glock switch and a screwdriver. Glock has been able to profit from this design feature, as the company’s pistols are a go-to for criminals looking to circumvent federal law.
“Glock switches” are cheap, small devices – roughly the size of a quarter – that allow pistols to fire up to 1,200 rounds per minute, a rate as fast as, or faster than, many fully automatic firearms and machine guns used by the United States military. These devices pose a threat to law enforcement officers. Glock switches have been used in shootings that injured or killed law enforcement officers across the country, including in Mississippi, and Texas.
But, the clock is ticking on Glock’s reckless business practices. The City of Chicago, represented by Everytown Law, the litigation arm of Everytown for Gun Safety, recently filed suit seeking to hold Glock accountable for the spread of illegal machine guns across the city. Recent legislative efforts to prevent the proliferation of Glock switches have been bipartisan. Just this year, Republican governors in Virginia and Mississippi signed legislation into law to regulate these conversion devices. To date, 23 states across the country have passed laws that ban or regulate Glock switches and similar machine gun conversion devices.
In March, a coalition of attorneys general from twelve states and Washington, D.C., sent a letter to Glock, calling on the company to preserve documents related to its pistols being able to be converted into machine guns, an indication that the states and D.C. may be investigating whether the sale of such easily modifiable guns violates their laws.
New York has long been a national leader in gun violence prevention, with the second-strongest gun safety laws in the nation. As a result, New York has the fourth-lowest rate of gun deaths in the country, proving what we have long known to be true: Strong gun laws save lives.
In an average year, 960 people die by guns in New York, and another 2,841 are wounded. Gun deaths and injuries cost New York $11.4 billion each year, of which $301.2 million is paid by taxpayers. More information about gun violence in New York can be found here.