The New York State Police released a document revealing just what semiautomatic pistols are covered under the state’s ban on so-called “machine-gun convertible pistols.”
Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the bans, which were hidden on page ten of a 314-page document as part of a multi-document package, into law in May after it was passed by the heavily Democratic state Legislature. The three-page document, dated Oct. 30, listed firearms from over two dozen manufacturers besides Glock, including models from Ruger, Black Rain Ordnance, Palmetto State Armory, Rock Island Armory and Polymer 80. (RELATED: Blue-City Police Department Posts Video Celebrating Destruction Of ‘Illegal’ Guns)
“In general, the statute defines a convertible pistol as a semi-automatic pistol with a cruciform trigger bar that can be readily altered by hand or with common household tools so that it can be converted into a machine gun by the installation or attachment of a pistol converter,” the document says. “The statutory definition does not include hammer-fired semi-automatic pistols, or striker-fired semi-automatic pistols lacking a cruciform trigger bar.”
“The absence of a particular pistol from this list should not be construed as a determination by the New York State Police that the pistol does not meet the statutory definition,” the document adds later. “The list may be revised or supplemented as additional determinations are made.”
United States District Judge Kari A. Dooley of the District of Connecticut, a Trump appointee, struck down a similar ban passed by Connecticut on Sept. 30, saying that the state’s ban failed the test established by the Supreme Court’s decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen.
Glock bans have been pushed by some anti-Second Amendment lawmakers to address so-called “Glock switches” that are used to illegally convert Glock pistols into machine guns. According to current federal law, the possession or manufacture of fully-automatic firearms is prohibited unless the firearm is registered or approved by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) pursuant to the National Firearms Act of 1934.
NSSF’s RightSideofLegal.org website notes that having a machine-gun conversion device can lead to ten years in federal prison and up to $250,000 in fines.
Research by the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) showed that murders with illegally modified Glocks were rarer than fatal lightning strikes. By comparison, the National Weather Service confirmed 81 fatal lightning strikes since the start of 2021 and confirmed 40 fatal lightning strikes in 2016 alone.
“The total that we have so far found is 40 murders from 17 attacks where someone was murdered,” the CPRC article said, adding that while they attempted an “exhaustive search,” the possibility the illegally-modified guns had been used in other homicides could not be discounted.
(DCNF)