Senate committee to discuss possession of Glock switches, auto sears
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers are working to fight dangerous gun modifications.
I-Team 8 told viewers Thursday about switches that can turn handguns into machine guns last week.
State Sen. Aaron Freeman talked Tuesday about his bill that would tackle the problem. “Law enforcement just shouldn’t have to deal with this,” the Republican from Indianapolis said.
Freeman’s legislation, Senate Bill 343, would create stiffer punishments for people who possess Glock switches or auto sears. Indiana does not allow the possession of Glock switches or auto sears until they are attached to handguns. Federally, It’s a felony to possess the device, no matter if it’s on the gun or not.
“What I want to do is simply almost mirror the federal law,” Freeman said.
Freeman told I-Team 8 that the intention of his law is to target Glock switches and auto sears specifically. “I see this as a simple update to our code. I don’t see it as a fight about the 2nd Amendment. I don’t see it in any way restricting anything. We’re trying to help keep our community safe. We’re trying to keep our law enforcement officers safe and that’s my intention for the bill.”
The bill will be talked about in a Indiana Senate committee meeting next week. It’s one step of many before it could become a law.
State Sen. Lonnie Randolph, a Democrat from East Chicago, supports Freeman’s law because of the concern he has about the devices. “It makes me cringe because it makes it easier for someone young to create some of these mass shootings that going on across this entire country,” Randolph said.
Randolph told I-Team 8 he doesn’t want the conversation to stop with Glock switches and auto sears. He says he intends to bring up his own law that would increase the age someone needs to be to own a gun.
“Mine would raise that to 21. In order to buy alcohol or cigarettes, you have to be 21, so why not a weapon? A weapon is much more dangerous, I think, than those items, so I’m hoping to get a hearing on that,” Randolph said.