BILL NUMBER: S399A
SPONSOR: MYRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to the regulation of pistol
converters and convertible pistols
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends subdivision 1 of section 265.00 of the penal law, which
defines "Machine-gun" and adds subdivision 37 to that section to define
the following terms: "Pistol converter", "Convertible pistol", and
"common household tools".
Section 2 amends subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 265.10 of the penal law
as separately amended by chapters 34, 130, and 146 of the laws of 2019,
which state the various criminal charges for manufacturing and transpor-
tation of respective illegal weapons and components, to include pistol
converters and adds a new subdivision 10 which states criminal charges
for disposing of transporting or shipping as merchandise a convertible
pistol.
Section 3 amends section 265.20 of the penal law, which lists applicable
exemptions to weapons offenses, by adding a new subdivision f, which
states the specified parties to whom a person, dealer, firm, partner-
ship, or corporation may legally dispose of a convertible pistol,
despite the prohibition created in Section 3, such as persons in mili-
tary service at both federal and state levels, police officers, peace
officers, government defense contractors fulfilling their agreements,
and licensed gunsmiths and dealers in firearms.
Section 4 amends Subdivision 36 of Section 265 of the Penal Law, which
defines the term "Pistol Converter".
Section 5 Authorizes the superintendent of the Division of state police
to promulgate rules and regulations according to this legislation.
Section 6 provides for the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
significant threat to public safety because they can be and increasingly
have been used to quickly and easily convert semi-automatic pistols into
fully automatic machine guns, bypass current prohibitions against the
manufacture, sale, and possession of machine guns in the state of New
York and on a Federal level. These pistol converters are known as "Glock
Switches" because the design of Glock pistols - and other pistols that
replicate those designs- makes them uniquely susceptible to this type of
illegal conversion. Pistol converters are not compatible with and cannot
convert any other major manufacturers' semi-automatic pistols into
machine guns. Only Glocks and Glock copycat weapons can be converted in
this manner.
Because of their small size and simple design, pistol converters are
often obtained illegally through overseas channels and can also be manu-
factured through the use of 3D printing. These pistol converters and a
screwdriver are all a person needs to transform single-fire, semi-auto-
matic pistols into illegal, fully automatic weapons, dramatically
increasing their lethality and enabling them to fire continuously with a
single pull of the trigger, at rates of up to 1,200 rounds per minute.
The current gun violence crisis facing the nation has worsened as the
illegal manufacture, sale, and possession of pistol converters and the
easy conversion of convertible pistols into machine guns have become
more frequent. The ATF recently announced in January 2024 that they have
recovered more than 31,000 machine gun conversion devices, including
Glock switches, over the past five years - a drastic increase compared
to previous periods. Numerous violent crimes have been perpetrated with
illegally modified handguns equipped with pistol converters, with nota-
ble occurrences in a mass shooting in Sacramento that killed 6 people
and injured 12 others, where one of the gunmen involved converted a
pistol with the use of a pistol converter (2022).
Within the State of New York, these "Glock switches" have been uncovered
in multiple police investigations in areas such as Poughkeepsie, Suffolk
County, Syracuse, Buffalo, Troy, Brooklyn, Tuckahoe, and Queens. This
includes a horrific 2022 incident where a man shot and killed a father
visiting his son at Marist College in the lobby of a hotel in an unpro-
voked attack using a Glock pistol equipped with a switch. As the market
for these illegal devices grows, so do the public safety concerns, as
these illegal devices place communities at risk of heightened gun
violence despite this rising danger and knowing that the design of its
pistols makes these easy conversions possible-manufacturers of converti-
ble pistols have taken no action to fix this problem and prevent the
easy conversion of their pistols into machine guns.
This bill will hold firearm companies that produce convertible pistols
accountable for their failure to address this problem and the dangers it
poses to New York State. It is intended to incentivize them to take
steps to update their design to prevent the continued misuse of their
products. By restricting sales of convertible pistols in New York, the
bill will create a financial incentive for these companies to change the
designs of their products so they can no longer be easily converted into
machine guns simply by the installation of a pistol converter. said in
New York or those currently lawfully possessed by New Yorkers These
pistols would remain lawful to possess and carry throughout the state by
those licensed to do so. Only future sales and transfers of convertible
pistols would be prohibited, subject to the numerous exceptions in the
bill. Only companies that manufacture and sell convertible pistols,
namely, Glock and makers of copycat weapons that duplicate the designs
that make Glock pistols uniquely susceptible to easy conversion into
machine guns, would be impacted by the new prohibition. Other than Glock
and those who duplicate its designs, no other major manufacturer produc-
es semi-automatic pistols that can be converted into machine guns solely
by the installation of a pistol converter.
If makers of convertible pistols adapt their designs to ensure they
cannot be converted into machine guns simply by installing a pistol
converter, they will no longer be subject to the sale prohibition.
Regardless of when and whether makers of convertible pistols update
their designs, all other major manufacturers' semi-automatic pistols
will remain legal to sell in New York.
The bill will also create a new definition of the pistol converters that
make these simple conversions possible, which are already prohibited
under New York and Federal law-and reclassify them in the New York code.
These changes would align the criminal penalties for manufacturing,
transporting, and possessing these dangerous accessories so that they
are treated identically to machine guns, as is currently the case under
federal law.
Finally, the bill will update the definition of 'machine gun' to ensure
that any convertible pistol, when equipped with a pistol converter, is a
machine gun under state law.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
S9225 of 2024-24: Referred to Codes.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have
become a law.

Statutes affected:
S399: 265.00 penal law, 265.00(1) penal law, 265.02 penal law, 265.02(10) penal law, 265.20 penal law
S399A: 265.00 penal law, 265.00(1) penal law, 265.20 penal law, 265.00(36) penal law