State House Democrats passed Gov. Ned Lamont’s latest gun control bill, focused on banning handguns that can be easily modified to become automatic weapons using devices known as “Glock switches.”
The vote was 86-64, with 15 Democrats joining all Republicans voting against passage.
Democratic state Rep. Steve Stafstrom said Glock changed its handgun design in Germany to comply with laws there, making it more difficult to convert handguns. But he says the design change hasn’t been adopted in the U.S.
Stafstrom explains, “The idea would be to join like-minded states like California, New York, Maryland and others in saying, ‘Okay, Glock, if you’re not willing to modify the design of this particular gun, you can’t continue to sell new models into Connecticut.’”
But the bill doesn’t ban all such guns: current owners will be “grandfathered” in.
“If you currently own a Glock,” says Stafstrom, “nobody’s coming to confiscate it. You can continue to possess, own and use that Glock. All we’re going after here is the manufacturer to try to get the manufacturer to change the design.”
Republican state Rep. Greg Howard believes the bill penalizes would-be future owners, saying, “I find it offensive that we’re gonna sit here today and we’re gonna tell law-abiding citizens in the state of Connecticut that they can’t have something because somebody else has wanted to buy it and re-manufacture it.”
Glock switches are commonly used in crimes. Police say a converted handgun was used in the November, 2024 murders of Jessiah Mercado, 20, and her 4-month-old son, Messiah Diaz, in Hartford.
The bill also expands the state’s “ghost gun” ban, redefining unfinished frames and lower receivers as guns.
