I will soon introduce legislation to prohibit the possession, use, sale, transfer, and production of machine gun conversion devices in Pennsylvania.

Often called an “auto sear” or “glock switch”, a tiny, inexpensive device is all it takes to modify some semi-automatic handguns into fully automatic weapons capable of firing multiple rounds with one pull of the trigger. Fully automatic machine guns and the parts used to create them have been stringently regulated under federal law since the 1930s but sections of the gun industry and third-party sellers continue to produce devices that make the conversion of handguns into a fully automatic weapon easy. Moreover, auto sears are small in size and simple in design which makes them easy to manufacture or 3D print and cheap to purchase.

In turn, the proliferation of these devices and their use in crime has risen alarmingly in the last few years. The Philadelphia Police Department have already reported finding at least 57 guns equipped with switches in 2025 and also suspect that switches are behind at least 2 tragic mass shootings in the last 6 weeks which killed 5 and injured 18 victims combined, all under the age of 28. As is so often the case, our young people and our law enforcement officers are the ones bearing the brunt of Pennsylvania’s inaction on common sense gun regulation.

The surge in the use of these devices on the ground has also been accompanied by mounting uncertainty in the legal landscape. Last year, the US Supreme Court overturned the federal prohibition on bump stocks in Garland v. Cargill and opened the possibility of future rollbacks on bans of devices that modify firearm function. In response, the City of Philadelphia passed an ordinance banning both switches and bump stocks but faced immediate and inevitable legal challenges due to the state preemption on local firearm regulation. Therefore, it is time for our Commonwealth to decisively settle the issue and join the 27 other states who have already enacted bans on auto sears.

In order to honor the victims of gun violence, promote the safety of our communities, and protect our law enforcement officers, let’s make it clear that handguns cannot legally become machine guns in Pennsylvania.

Please join me in sponsoring this critical legislation.