It’s Time to Put Glock on the Clock (Page 2)

Memo of Support - MCC (Page 4)

Memo of Support - Secure Storage (Page 5)

Memo of Support - SAVE Act (Page 7)

Memo of Support - 3D Printing (Page 8)

Memo of Support - Lockdown Drills (Page 9)

It’s Time to Put Glock on the Clock

We urge New York State legislators to support S.7365-A (Hoylman) / A.10053 (Simon) and legislation recently introduced by Senator Myrie and Assemblymember Solages (pending bill number) to stop the spread of DIY machine guns in New York.

The Problem: Fully automatic machine guns are exceptionally lethal weapons designed for use on the battlefield, capable of firing at a rate of 1,200 rounds per minute. That’s why they’ve been prohibited by federal law and the laws of New York State for decades. However, Glock and other gunmakers who’ve copied Glock’s designs manufacture their pistols in a way that makes them uniquely easy to convert into illegal machine guns at home with nothing more than a screwdriver and a tiny piece of plastic commonly known as a “Glock switch.” This part is illegal to possess under federal and state law, but can easily be purchased for as little as $25 or 3D printed at home. Glock has known about this problem for decades, but has refused to redesign its pistols to fix it, even though it clearly could. No other major manufacturer designs and sells semi-automatic pistols that are so easy to convert into machine guns.

The consequences of Glock’s inaction are devastating: these modified pistols equipped with Glock switches have become a weapon of choice for criminals and are increasingly turning up at crime scenes in New York and across the country, as the frequency of automatic gun fire increases rapidly in our communities. Modified pistols and Glock switches have been recovered or used in crimes across New York State, including in Poughkeepsie, Suffolk County, Syracuse, Buffalo, Troy, Brooklyn, Tuckahoe, and Queens. (See page 2 for examples).

The Solution: Legislators should protect New Yorkers from this growing threat by holding Glock accountable and forcing them to finally fix their uniquely convertible design. This can be accomplished by passing two bills currently before the legislature that would send a clear message to Glock and other gun manufacturers who’ve copied their designs: stop putting your profits before Americans’ lives and fix this problem…or pay the price.

Legislation introduced by Senator Myrie and Assemblymember Solages (bill numbers pending) would prohibit the future sales of any semi-automatic handguns in New York that can easily be converted into fully automatic machine guns simply by the installation of a Glock switch. The bill would not require current Glock owners to modify or relinquish or impact their ability to use and carry them, if licensed to do so. The bill also would not bar future sales to law enforcement officers or agencies or to members of the military. The bill would also explicitly prohibit the sale, possession, and manufacture of Glock switches, and make clear that a convertible pistol equipped with a Glock switch is a “machine gun” under state law.

S. 7365-A (Hoylman) / A.10053 (Simon) would update New York’s landmark gun industry accountability law to explicitly require firearm manufacturers to take steps to ensure their firearms cannot easily be turned into machine guns simply by installing a Glock switch. Those who fail to do so would face civil liability, ensuring New Yorkers hurt and killed by these DIY machine guns could be fairly compensated by those responsible.

New York Recoveries of Modified Glocks, other Glock-style pistols, and Glock switches:

• In 2022, a man stormed into a hotel armed with a Glock equipped with a switch and killed a man visiting his son at Marist College in Poughkeepsie in an unprovoked attack.
• A joint investigation by the NYS Attorney General’s Organized Crime Task Force, NYPD, NYSP, and the DEA busted a firearms trafficking scheme in which three people based in Suffolk County and Queens trafficked ghost guns, assault weapons, switches, high-capacity magazines, and other dangerous products into New York. The investigation found eighteen firearms outfitted with switches.
• In 2022, a Syracuse man pled guilty to selling seven illegal ghost guns (two that were equipped with switches), as well as two short-barrelled rifles.
• Buffalo police reported in January 2023 that they were seeing an increasing amount of auto sears. In July 2023, they recovered a Glock and a switch at the scene of a shooting where a man had been struck by gunfire multiple times.
• In Troy in 2023, an 18-year old man pled guilty to possessing three machine gun conversion devices and a Glock handgun outfitted with another one, and also admitted to selling more of the devices.
• Police arrested a Brooklyn man in 2022 for 3-D printing ghost guns and glock switches.
• There are many examples in Rochester in recent years of people being charged or arrested in connection with selling switches or found to be in possession of guns that were converted to machine guns.
• A Tuckahoe man pled guilty in 2023 to distributing more than 50 grams of methamphetamine, as well as selling a ghost gun and a Glock switch. The investigation revealed he had sold numerous Glock switches to other customers in the past.

National Stats and examples:

• Audio sensors monitored by a public safety technology company, Sound Thinking, recorded 75,544 rounds of suspected automatic gunfire in 2022 in portions of 127 cities covered by its microphones, according to data compiled at the request of The New York Times. That was a 49 percent increase from the year before.
• Chicago Police recovered more than 1,100 modified Glocks from 2021 through 2023.
• In 2021, A Houston Police Department officer was killed and another was wounded by a man who used a handgun equipped with a switch.
• In 2022 in Sacramento, a handgun converted into a machine gun was used during a gun battle that killed six and injured twelve, in what has been called Sacramento’s deadliest mass shooting.
• In Dallas, ATF’s Field Office recovered 36 Glock switches in 2021 and 1,026 in 2022, a 2,750% year-to-year increase.
• A 69-year-old grandmother in Columbus, Ohio was shot and killed with a modified handgun while walking into her daughter’s house.
• In Albuquerque, New Mexico, a 19-year-old shot and killed a 52-year-old veteran in a movie theater with a handgun modified with a switch.

Memo of Support - MCC

S.8479 (Myrie) / A.9862 (Solages)

Merchant Category Codes for Firearm Sales

Everytown for Gun Safety, the nation’s largest gun violence prevention organization, along with the New York Chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, support S.8479 / A.9862.

This bill would require issuers of credit and debit cards to create a new merchant category code for firearms dealers, which would help banks and financial institutions identify and report suspicious gun and ammunition purchasing activity to law enforcement, consistent with their obligations to report suspicious activity related to terrorism financing and other illicit activities.

Merchant category codes are four-digit numbers used by credit card issuers to categorize purchases by type of merchant, which can be used for many different purposes including calculating consumer rewards and merchant tax reporting. Nearly every type of merchant has a unique, specific code – except for gun and ammunition sellers, which use the code 5941 used by sporting goods stores, helping them to avoid oversight of suspicious transactions.

Creating a code for firearm dealers can help identify purchases associated with illegal gun trafficking or straw purchasing, which are major contributors to our nation’s gun violence crisis, as well as bulk firearm purchases by individuals such as domestic extremists and potential mass shooters who may be seeking to build an arsenal of weapons over a short period of time.

A 2022 New York Times examination of mass shootings since the Virginia Tech attack in 2007 revealed at least eight mass shootings that killed 10 or more people where the killers financed their attacks using credit cards, for a total of 217 lives lost. This includes the Pulse nightclub shooter, who opened six new credit card accounts over an eight month period and used them starting twelve days before his shooting to buy more than $19,000 worth of guns and ammunition and other expensive purchases, far outpacing his previous average monthly spending. His Google search history included “why banks stop your purchases” and other related terms – but none of the financial institutions involved in his transactions flagged his purchases as suspicious, squandering a chance to prevent his attack.

California recently passed a similar law which took effect in Jan. 2024. American Express, Visa, and Mastercard implemented the law in February, making the code available to merchants. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis also signed similar legislation  into law on May 1, 2024.

The creation of a merchant category code to track firearms sales would be another step forward toward reinforcing a culture of responsible gun ownership, and we urge legislators to support it.

Memo of Support - Secure Storage

A.7517-A (Benedetto) / S.6980-A (Mayer)

Requires the dissemination of materials regarding child access prevention and the safe storage of firearms

Everytown for Gun Safety, the nation’s largest gun violence prevention organization, along with the New York Chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, support A.7517-A / S.6980-A.

This legislation would require the New York State Education Department (NYSED) to develop model informational materials to educate the public about New York’s child access prevention and secure firearm storage laws, the importance of secure firearm storage, and other state and local resources to help prevent gun violence. The bill would require school districts to provide these materials to parents and guardians of students each school year.

New York law states that gun owners who reside with children under the age of eighteen or with individuals who are legally prohibited from possessing firearms must store them securely—in a safe, a locked container, or other device that prevents unauthorized access. The law further requires that guns be securely stored anytime a person under 16 is likely to gain access to the firearm (regardless of where they reside). New York’s strong laws can only be impactful if gun owners understand and abide by them, and if all parents and communities understand the lifesaving benefits of preventing children from accessing firearms.

Gun owners can make their homes and communities safer by storing their guns securely – locked, unloaded, and separate from ammunition. Securing firearms protects children and adults by preventing unintentional shootings and gun suicides, and can also prevent gun violence at schools by reducing school-age children’s access to guns.

Failure to securely store guns has deadly consequences.

• Guns are the #1 killer of children (1 to 17) in the US.^[1] 
• 350 children under the age of 18 unintentionally shoot themselves or someone else in the U.S. every year.^[2] 
• From 2015 to 2023, there were 3,200 unintentional shootings by children, resulting in more than 1,200 people killed and more than 2,000 people wounded.^[3] 
• Guns from home (or a friend/family member’s home) are used in the majority of child firearm suicides as well as incidents of violence on school grounds.^[4]

Securely storing guns can help prevent gun suicide, unintentional shootings, and school shootings, and stop guns from being stolen and diverted to the illegal market.  

• One study found that households that locked both firearms and ammunition were associated with a 78 percent lower risk of self-inflicted firearm injuries and an 85 percent lower risk of unintentional firearm injuries among children and teens, compared to those that locked neither.^[5]
• In Everytown’s database of shootings on school grounds, 60 percent of school-age shooters were current or former students, including all shooters involved in mass shootings and nearly all in self-harm incidents (96 percent) and in unintentional discharges of a gun (91 percent).^[6]
• The US Secret Service has undertaken two studies of targeted school violence, covering nearly 40 years of incidents. They found that roughly three-quarters of school shooters acquired their firearm from the home of a parent or close relative. The second study, from 2008 to 2017, revealed that in nearly half of the shootings, the firearm was easily accessible or was not stored securely.^[7]

Despite the benefits of secure storage, lax gun storage practices are all too common.

• 4.6 million American children live in homes with at least one gun that is loaded and unlocked.^[8]
• 41 percent of adolescents in gun-owning households report having “easy access” to the guns in their homes.^[9]
• One study found that 70 percent of parents believe their teen cannot access the gun(s) in their home. Yet, the study also found that half of teens said they could gain access to a loaded gun in their home in under an hour, including one-third who said they could do so in under five minutes.^[10]

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Memo of Support - SAVE Act

S.4598-A (Bailey) / A.4917-B (Anderson)

The School Anti-Violence Education (SAVE) Act

Everytown for Gun Safety, the nation’s largest gun violence prevention organization, along with the New York Chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, support S.4598-A / A.4917-B.

The School Anti-Violence Education (SAVE) Act would authorize the New York State Education Department (NYSED) to establish school anti-violence education programs and set forth state funding sources for them. NYSED would also be required to secure alternative funding sources, including from local governments, the federal government, and private sources.

The programs would be either based in or affiliated with a public school, and would be operated by a nonprofit organization or public entity. They would provide evidence-based trauma support, group counseling, and anti-gun violence education that includes personal and group development, research-based facts and misconceptions about guns and the gun violence crisis, and youth empowerment programming.

Guns are the #1 killer of children and teens both nationwide and here in New York.^[11] Approximately three million American children witness gun violence every year.^[12] Nationwide, 62 percent of all gun deaths among children and teens are homicides,^[13] but the gun suicide rate is rising significantly as well. For adolescents between the ages of 10 and 14, the gun suicide rate in 2021 was the highest reported by the CDC since 1968.^[14] 

New York is a national leader in the fight against gun violence, with some of the strongest gun safety laws in the country. This bill would build upon that track record by providing schools with resources to establish programs that take a public-health-informed approach to reducing gun violence. It’s critical to give young people the support they need to make healthy choices and support them as they process trauma – this bill would enable more schools to offer that support.

Memo of Support - 3D Printing

S.7364 (Hoylman-Sigal) / A.7489 (Rosenthal)

Relates to the regulation of three-dimensional printed firearms

Everytown for Gun Safety, the nation’s largest gun violence prevention organization, along with the New York Chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, support S.7364 / A.7489.

This legislation would expand New York’s existing prohibition on the manufacture of certain dangerous firearms and accessories – including machine guns, assault weapons, and large capacity magazines – to also prohibit the manufacture of ghost guns and their core parts, silencers, magazines, and other major firearm components by anyone other than a licensed gunsmith or firearms dealer. It would also prohibit dissemination of digital instructions designed to be used to program a 3D printer to print any of these items to anyone other than a licensed gunsmith or firearms dealer.

The bill would not prohibit New Yorkers from manufacturing their own firearms using 3D printing technology or any other method. It would simply require that they obtain a state gunsmith or dealer license to do so – which would require them to follow the same simple process already required by current New York law to obtain a permit to purchase a handgun or semi-automatic centerfire rifle or to carry a handgun concealed in public, which includes a thorough background check and assessment of the applicant’s suitability.

New York has been a leader in addressing the spread of “ghost guns” — unserialized  firearms made either from gun-building kits or with 3D-printed building blocks, namely frames and receivers. 3D printing technology is rapidly becoming more accessible and affordable, making it a dangerous new frontier in DIY gunmaking – allowing those who cannot pass a background check to build firearms, including all-plastic guns that can be carried through metal detectors.

Further, 3D printers can be used to create other dangerous items, including highly illegal machine gun conversion devices for semi-automatic pistols and rifles, and even silencers. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) estimates that law enforcement recovered over 5,400 machine gun conversion devices between 2017 and 2021, and over 1,500 weapons converted into machine guns in 2021 alone. It’s vitally important that New York further strengthen its laws regulating gunmaking to address this rising threat.

By requiring licensure for the manufacture of 3D-printed firearms and components, this bill is a common-sense step to regulate a rapidly advancing technology that poses a threat to the safety of New Yorkers. We urge legislators to support it.

For more information, see Everytown’s report: The Danger of Downloadable Guns

Memo of Support - Lockdown Drills

S.6537 (Gounardes) / A.6665 (Simon)

Trauma-Informed School Lockdown Drills

Everytown for Gun Safety, the nation’s largest gun violence prevention organization, along with the New York Chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, support S.6537 / A.6665.

This legislation would reduce the number of mandated lockdown drills in New York schools, require those drills to take a trauma-informed approach that gives students’ parents and guardians advance notice and the ability to opt their children out of the drills; provide accommodations for students with health conditions including PTSD, anxiety, or a physical disability; and require an age-appropriate explanation to students of the drills. It would also require training for teachers and other school personnel on how to implement the drills.

95% of American public schools drill students on lockdown procedures. Yet, there is no strong  evidence affirming the value of these drills for preventing school shootings or protecting the school community when shootings do occur. Everytown recently partnered with researchers at Georgia Tech to study the immediate and long-term impacts of active shooter drills on the health and wellbeing of students, teachers, and parents.

The results were sobering: Active shooter drills in schools are associated with increases in depression (39%), stress and anxiety (42%), and physiological health problems (23%) overall, including children from as young as five years old up to high schoolers, their parents, and teachers. Concerns over death increased by 22 percent, with words like blood, pain, clinics, and pills becoming a consistent feature of social media posts in school communities in the 90 days after a school drill.

Given that a large and growing body of evidence suggests that active shooter drills are causing lasting emotional and physical harm to students, teachers, and the larger community, Everytown does not recommend that schools implement lockdown drills for students. However, given that New York State does mandate lockdown drills, this bill is a step in the right direction that makes reforms consistent with our recommendations to reduce their traumatic impact, including reducing the number of required drills and requiring advance notice to parents, age-appropriate content, and attention to students’ wellbeing during and after the drills.

We urge legislators to support this bill, as well as policies that can help to reduce the risk of gun violence in schools such as requiring education to parents and guardians on secure firearm storage. For more information, please see Everytown’s report with Georgia Tech on The Impact of Active Shooter Drills in Schools.