Law enforcement is expressing support for legislation that would make a certain gun accessory illegal in Kentucky.

They're commonly called Glock switches and are already against the law at the federal level.

Our Laura Rogers talked to a couple of police departments who say getting these off the streets would lead to safer communities.

Kentucky's very pro-gun state.

We're very, very cognizant of that.

It's also a leading state in the seizure of machine gun conversion devices, commonly called Glock switches.

I think it speaks volumes that last year, in fiscal year 2025, that Kentucky, the size of our state, had 478 of these switches seized across the Commonwealth.

According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

That's more than every state except Texas.

We're number two in the country, right.

Now.

Hopkinsville, Jason Newby and Elizabethtown Jeremy Thompson are among the chiefs of police sharing public support for House Bill 299 that would ban these devices at the state level.

These switches serve no sporting purpose.

They serve no self-defense purpose.

They are strictly a tool for criminals to make the streets more dangerous.

A Glock switch can basically turn a standard pistol into a machine gun, firing up to 1200 rounds per minute.

It's an aftermarket piece that goes into the firearm that takes it from semi-automatic, where you pull the trigger and it goes one time to pull the trigger and multiple rounds are fired through that.

In a letter to the Kentucky General Assembly, the state's largest police department say they've seen an increase in Glock switches, and Louisville seizures of them more than doubled from 2023 to 2024.

But they're not just in big cities.

I think you would be hard pressed to find a community in the state of Kentucky where you couldn't find 1 or 2 of these.

How do they tend to get in people's hands?

So according to the ATF report, the biggest thing is they're coming in from China.

And I think the reason, Kentucky was number two is because we do have a U.P.S.

hub.

The size of a small coin.

They can be easily made on a 3D printer.

As the law stands now.

Police in Kentucky can seize a Glock switch as evidence, but have no authority to make an arrest or charge.

Without contact federal prosecutor and see if they would be willing to prosecute the case.

And allows us to charge on a local level versus relying exclusively on our federal partners.

When the majority party took over.

The bill's sponsor, Republican State Representative Jason Nemetz of Louisville, said in a press release.

These devices lead to guns being used in ways they were never designed.

Posing a deadly threat to both law enforcement and bystanders, as other states have shown, we can recognize and address this problem while also safeguarding Second Amendment rights.

And that's exactly what this bill does.

We certainly don't want this to look like it is an attack on gun rights.

It's not.

It's just a mere what's already illegal on a federal level.

And allow us at a state level, to have the ability to charge someone with this crime in state court.

The bill has been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee for Kentucky edition.

I'm Laura Rogers.

Thank you.

Laura.

And a correction representative.

Jason Nemeth is from Middletown.

The bill's passage would make possession of a machine gun conversion device, or Glock switch, a class C felony in Kentucky.

The penalty could carry a fine and 5 to 10 years in prison.