Connecticut Democrats Pass Bill Banning Most Convertible Glock-Style Pistols

Second Amendment advocates in Connecticut criticized a new bill that targets most Glock-style pistols capable of conversion into machine guns. They fear Democrats will pursue further gun restrictions.

Democrats in the Connecticut legislature introduced the measure, which bans semiautomatic pistols with a cruciform trigger bar. These guns can be altered by hand or with common household tools to accept a converter device and fire automatically.

Holly Sullivan, president of the Connecticut Citizens Defense League, said Democrats focused on law-abiding citizens rather than criminals. "They're not going after the criminals that are breaking the law. They're simply going after the law abiding Americans that are owning commonly owned handguns," she told Fox News Digital. "And instead of banning or handling the criminal aspect of this, they're simply taking away one of the most popular handguns in our country."

"Connecticut likes to tout that we have some of the strongest gun laws in America, yet they don't seem to know how to deal with criminals that are actually in violation of those laws," Sullivan added.

Sullivan expressed concern that Democrats would not stop at Glock-style pistols. "For anybody who doesn't live in a deep blue state like this, I hope the message is resonated that they're never satisfied, whether they come for the rifles or they come for the Glocks, what is after that, we don't know," she said. "They don't want their constituents to have firearms and they don't how to deal with the criminals that are misusing them."

The bill passed Wednesday morning in the early hours around 3 a.m., according to News 8. Democrat Cathy Osten was the only member of her party to join Republicans in opposing it.

John Commerford, executive director of the NRA-ILA, called the bill a barrier to self-defense rights. "And all it does is reduces the options that law-abiding gun owners have to protect themselves and their families. As we know, when seconds count, the police are minutes away. So taking away self-defense options for law-abiding residents of Connecticut is never the answer. The answer is holding criminals accountable for their actions, prosecuting them, and making sure they stay behind bars when they have been convicted," he told Fox News Digital.

Supporters said the bill closes loopholes for converting Glock-style pistols into machine guns. "The legislation is keeping up with the technology and as the technology evolves, this law is going to cover that for closing a lot of loopholes, for ghost guns, as well as keeping machine guns off our streets," Earl Bloodworth of Connecticut Against Gun Violence told WFSB. "Every time a ‘switch’ turns a handgun into a machine gun, the heartbeat of a community quickens with fear. For too long, we have watched technology outpace our laws while families pay the price in grief and trauma that never truly heals."

Chris Stone, director of State and Local Affairs for Gun Owners of America, said in a statement to Fox News Digital that the bill does nothing to stop criminals who already possess machine guns and conversion devices illegally under federal law. "Instead, it punishes law-abiding manufacturers, retailers, and Connecticut gun owners by targeting firearms in common use for self-defense, precisely the type of arms protected by the Second Amendment,"

The bill now awaits action from Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont. It will become law if he signs it. Fox News Digital sought comment from Lamont's office and Glock.