Bill Sponsors / Authors:

  Rep. Frederick Frazier
  R - McKinney

 

Supporting Documents / Links:

•   People will lose their lives' 13 Investigates explosion in illegal 'Glock switches'
  ABC 13 Houston - January 30, 2022
•   Texas House passes ban on devices that modify handguns, but averts vote on increasing age to buy semi-automatic rifles
  Texas Tribune - March 11, 2023
•   The man who shot and killed an HPD officer last week used an illegally modified handgun, bodycam footage shows
  Houston Public Media - October 13, 2021
•   In Chicago, handguns turned into high-capacity machine guns fuel deadly violence
  NPR - October 28, 2022

House Bill 3266 – Auto Sears

In September of 2021, Houston Police Department Senior Officer William "Bill" Jeffrey was killed and another officer was seriously injured by a suspect who had an illegally modified weapon with a Glock switch. It took just 2.23 seconds for the suspect to fire 30 bullets.

Firearms can be converted into fully automatic machine guns with a small device, often called a "Glock switch" or auto sear device. Possession and use of these devices are a threat to the citizens of Houston and HPD, causing law enforcement and the public to suffer multiple injuries and loss of life.

The switch, which is about the size of a penny, can turn a gun from an ordinary handgun that fires a single round every time the trigger is pulled to an automatic weapon that can spew out dozens of bullets with one pull of the trigger.

Under Federal Law the possession of an auto sear by itself (or similar device) is considered a “machine gun” by definition and is illegal (punishable up to 10 years); Owning a Glock switch, even if it's not attached to a gun, is illegal under federal law since it is considered a machine gun. However, there is no comparable state law: under Texas law they're only considered illegal if they're installed onto a gun.

• Under state law, the only potential charge for possession of a machine gun conversion device is Penal Code 16.01, Possession of a Criminal Instrument (a 3rd degree felony) if it used in a crime.

House Bill 3266, from Rep. Frederick Frazier, R-McKinney, would have criminalized possessing, manufacturing, transporting, repairing or selling devices designed to make handguns capable of automatically shooting more than one shot — without manual reloading — by a single function of the trigger.

ABC 13 in Houston, and specifically reporter Ted Oberg, did an in-depth report on how these auto sears are growing threats in Houston. From October 2021 through September 2022, there were nearly 850 Machine Gun Conversion Devices (AKA Glock Switches) recovered by ATF across the state of Texas - 185 of which were recovered in the city of Houston.

• Special Agent in charge of ATF's Houston Field Division Fred Milanowski said there were 11 investigations involving Glock switches or modification devices in 2020. The cases tripled in 2021.
• Milanowski said in 2020, ATF seized about 33 of the Glock switches. That increased drastically last year when they seized 145.

Milanowski said since there are more Texas law enforcement agencies - like state troopers, county sheriff's and constable offices and local police departments - and fewer federal officers, state law needs to match federal law in considering just possession the device to be illegal. Prosecutors working with the City of Houston agreed and pushed for the changes in House Bill 3266.

The Houston Police Officers’ Union (HPOU) & the Houston Police Department (HPD) strongly supported this bill, as did the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Harris County Deputies Organization FOP 39, Texas Gang Investigators Association, the Dallas Police Department, Dallas Police Association, Sheriffs’ Association of Texas, Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, City of El Paso, Texas Sheriffs Regional Alliance, San Antonio Police Department, Texas Municipal Police Association, Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT), and Game Warden Peace Officers Association.

After Rep. Frederick Frazier passed the bill out of the House, the bill did not receive a hearing in the Texas Senate, even after law enforcement officials provided in person demonstrations.

The City of Houston will continue to advocate for our brave law enforcement officers and hopes the Texas Senate will listen.