The mass shooting in Birmingham over the weekend has spurred new calls to ban “switches,” devices that can effectively turn handguns into machine guns, in Alabama. Police, who found more than 100 shell casings at the scene, believe the devices were used in the attack; since July, the city has been working with federal authorities to crack down on switches. On Sunday, Mayor Randall Woodfin wrote on Facebook that “Glock switches are the number one public safety issue in our city and state.” State Representative Phillip Ensler, a Democrat, told the Alabama Reflector that he has prefiled a bill to prohibit possession of conversion devices, which would add a state-level penalty in addition to those under federal law.
Ensler’s bill doesn’t face an easy route to passage — gun safety proposals tend to flail in the state Legislature. But Ensler is holding out hope: His bill banning switches in the last session made it out of the House before stalling in the Senate. “Regardless of what happened, there is very much a need to have a state-level ban on these devices,” Ensler told the Reflector. “They are incredibly dangerous.”
What, exactly, are switches? The devices, also known as auto sears, have become increasingly popular, as The Trace reported with Vice News in 2022. Switches were specifically designed to slot into the back of Glock handguns. Most switches are illegal, but Glocks outfitted with the devices have increasingly turned up at crime scenes. They’re neither sanctioned nor manufactured by Glock, but as The Trace recently reported, the proliferation of switches has put pressure on the company to overhaul its products.
As the investigation in Birmingham continues, the city continues to mourn the four people killed. Their names were released this week: Roderick Lynn Patterson Jr., 26; Anitra Holloman, 21; Tahj Booker, 27; and Carlos McCain, 27.
Senior editor Joy Resmovits contributed to this section.
From The Trace
- Only One State Will Have a Gun-Related Initiative on the Ballot This Fall: At the start of 2024, over a dozen initiatives were in play across the country. We tried to figure out why so many failed.
- In Philadelphia, a New School Year Brings Questions About Who’s Accountable for Protecting Students: A federal lawsuit claims that the school district is responsible for a student’s shooting death.
What to Know Today
Murder fell an estimated 11.6 percent in 2023, according to FBI statistics released this week — the largest one-year decline ever recorded. The data, based on reporting from 94 percent of the U.S. population, also shows that overall violent crime dropped about 3 percent compared to 2022. [Associated Press/Jeff Asher]
Ryan Routh, the man arrested for allegedly attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump at his golf club this month, previously wrote a letter addressed to “The World” that stated “this was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump,” according to a new court filing. Routh was detained on firearm charges after the incident. The Secret Service is heightening security around Trump, an official said Monday, following Routh’s apparent attempt on his life and the assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania campaign rally in July. [CNN/NBC]
The controversial gunshot-detection service ShotSpotter stopped sending alerts to Chicago Police this week, following the expiration of the city’s contract with parent company SoundThinking on Sunday. The shutoff comes in the middle of a political firestorm and protracted power struggle between Mayor Brandon Johnson and City Council over the future of the technology in Chicago. Johnson’s office announced a search for new “first responder technology” the same day ShotSpotter went dark. [South Side Weekly/Block Club Chicago]
Over the past 15 years, members of Congress have experienced two near-deadly shootings, a riot at the Capitol that had many fearing for their lives, and real, increasing threats of political violence against them and their staff. Yet the institution is wholly unprepared to deal with a mass casualty event, thanks to inaction from both GOP and Democratic leaders. “The number of rounds in one pistol clip can change the balance of power of the House or the Senate,” said one former U.S. representative. [Politico]
The shooter who killed 10 people at a King Soopers supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, three years ago was convicted of 55 crimes, including murder and attempted murder, and sentenced to life in prison without parole on Monday. The verdict came after five hours of deliberation by the jury, whose members rejected the gunman’s not guilty by reason of insanity plea. Defense attorneys for the shooter, who has schizophrenia, argued that he was unable to tell right from wrong at the time he committed the massacre. [The Denver Post/Associated Press]
The New York Police Department has failed to punish officers who have violated people’s rights during street detentions, and commissioners have routinely reduced discipline recommended for officers who have illegally stopped, questioned, and frisked people over the past decade, according to a 503-page report on the department’s practices around “stop-and-frisk.” Earlier this month, a court-appointed monitor found that a controversial anti-gun unit revived under Mayor Eric Adams was still conducting illegal stops. The original unit, disbanded in 2020, was responsible for a disproportionate number of police shootings and abuse complaints. [The New York Times]
Friday marks two years since Jesus Sepúlveda, a migrant who was traveling with 12 others, was shot and killed near a water reservoir in arid Hudspeth County, Texas, near the southern border. It also marks the end of the statute of limitations on the state’s charge of a misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon against the suspects, twins Mike and Mark Sheppard — and while the brothers can still be prosecuted on manslaughter charges or handed another felony, there’s no sign that the criminal case will move forward anytime soon. [El Paso Matters]
On Tuesday, just about three weeks after it became the site of a mass shooting, Apalachee High School reopened. Law enforcement officers in Winder, Georgia, remained on campus, joined by counselors and therapy dogs, as students and staff began reentering the recovering school. [CNN]
Manuel and Patricia Oliver, whose son Joaquin was killed in the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Florida, are behind a new video game that simulates a school shooting. To win — and survive the shooting — players must find five pieces of gun violence prevention legislation hidden throughout the school. [CBS]
Data Point
1 in 6 — the proportion of K-12 teachers nationally who work in a district that has been touched by gun violence since the 2019–2020 school year. [RAND]
Non Sequitur
An Asteroid Will Soon Enter Earth’s Orbit as a Temporary ‘Mini-Moon’: “An asteroid is expected to swing by Earth next week, then spend about two months orbiting the planet as it gets temporarily caught by Earth’s gravity.” [NBC]
