2024 GUn LAW
TRENDWATCH

A Roundup and Analysis of the Latest State Firearm Legislation from GIFFORDS Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence

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Gun Law Trendwatch rounds up the latest information on gun legislation in America.

Each year, our attorneys track and analyze state firearm legislation, both positive and negative, as it’s proposed across the country, researching close to 2,000 bills annually. Distributed monthly during the first half of the year, when the majority of state legislatures are in session, Gun Law Trendwatch follows developments in gun policy, documents key victories, and monitors the gun lobby’s efforts to undermine public safety.

Read our latest updates below, check out which states have bills in motion, or browse through Trendwatch editions from previous years.

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February 2024: Regulating Auto Sears

The gun debate is one of the most polarizing and fraught discussions in American politics, and it often seems like there’s no common ground. 

But that’s not true. The vast majority of Americans support background checks, and nearly two-thirds of Americans support laws that ban large-capacity magazines. Voters overwhelmingly want measures in place that protect their kids and communities from gun violence. But a less obvious point of consensus involves auto sears, also known as “switches” or “machine gun conversion devices.” 

Auto sears are devices designed to convert semiautomatic firearms into automatic firearms (i.e., machine guns). In other words, when one of these devices is installed on a gun, it can fire a continuous stream of bullets with a single pull of the trigger. This feature makes these firearms horrifically destructive. 

Auto sears are banned, but loopholes mean they aren’t gone for good.

Under federal law, auto sears are banned, since the definition of a “machine gun” includes not only any gun capable of firing automatically, but also any part designed and intended solely and exclusively for use in converting a weapon into a machine gun. Manufacturing new machine guns (including new auto sears) for civilian possession has been illegal in the US since 1986, and anyone in possession of a machine gun or an auto sear is guilty of a federal felony. 

Despite this clear and well-established nationwide ban, these devices are too easily available, and law enforcement officers have been encountering more and more of them in recent years. People who commit crimes can obtain these devices through 3D printing or imports and exploit auto sears as a way to threaten horrendous damage. Federal, state, tribal, and local law enforcement are finding increasing numbers of auto sears at crime scenes and in cities across the country. They have been found in the possession of people charged with distributing methamphetamine, fentanyl, and oxycodone.

Weak state laws are exacerbating this problem. Too many states have relied solely on the ATF to prevent access to auto sears, even though federal law enforcement officers are rarely available in communities to address the presence of these devices. 

And shockingly, 29 states have weaker laws regarding auto sears than federal law. These states use a definition of machine gun that excludes parts like auto sears and only applies to complete automatic firearms. As a result, these states do not regulate these devices, meaning that state law enforcement officers who encounter them may be reluctant to arrest those who have them or to seize the devices themselves. In those states, enforcement of the federal ban is unlikely unless federal agents get involved.

States are beginning to fight back.

Fortunately, some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are taking steps to fix this problem. In 2023, Louisiana and Indiana enacted laws to close this loophole. While these laws may not look like much, by conforming these states’ definitions of the term “machine gun” to the definition in the federal law, they will encourage compliance with federal law—and help ensure that the residents of these states are less likely to encounter the horrific damage that automatic firearms can cause. 

This year, it looks like progress on this issue may continue. A bill was reported out of the Pennsylvania House Committee on the Judiciary in early February that would add both auto sears and bump stocks to the state’s list of “offensive weapons.” In Mississippi, a bill that would ban machine gun conversion devices—including auto sears—passed out of committee. In Virginia, a bill that would ban auto sears has passed the house, but has yet to be voted on in the senate. 

It will take a wide array of solutions to put an end to gun violence in this country. While there is much more state legislators could be doing, these moderate but positive steps to address the danger that auto sears pose prove that progress on gun safety is possible, even in the most unlikely places.

2024 Bills in Motion

For more than three decades, GIFFORDS Law Center has helped states pass evidence-based gun safety policies while fighting the gun lobby’s dangerous agenda. This year, both gun safety bills and gun lobby bills are moving in statehouses across the country, as lawmakers go head to head over protecting their communities from gun violence versus caving to the whims of the gun lobby. 

So far in 2024, at least 42 states and Washington DC have active gun safety bills.

Gun Safety Bills in Motion

  • BACKGROUND CHECKS: NH SB-571 failed. Bills that would enact universal background checks or strengthen existing background check laws are pending in at least 13 states.
  • COMMUNITY VIOLENCE: MD SB-430 passed its house of origin. VA SB-484 and WA SB-5950 are on their respective governor’s desks. CT HB-5317 is scheduled for a hearing on 3/6. At least 20 states and Washington DC have bills pending that allocate, protect, or administer funding for evidence-based violence prevention programs.
  • DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: CO HB-1122, VA HB-798, FL SB-638, and FL SB-1224 have all passed a chamber. VA HB-46, VA HB-47, and VA SB-642 are being sent to the governor’s desk. VA HB-362 is in conference and was scheduled to be heard on 3/4. Bill hearings for CA AB-1974 and CA SB-899 are scheduled for hearings on 3/12, and additional domestic violence bills are likely to be heard in California this month. IL HB-4469 was scheduled for a hearing on 3/5. At least 21 states have bills pending that would improve efforts to keep guns out of the hands of people who commit domestic abuse.
  • GHOST GUNS: IA HB-488 passed a subcommittee. MA HB-4139 is in conference. PA HB-777 passed a committee. VA SB-100 and VA SB-363 are going to the governor’s desk. VA SB-209 passed a chamber. VA HB-173 is in conference and was scheduled for a hearing on 3/4. At least 12 states have bills pending that regulate ghost guns or improve the effectiveness of their ghost gun policies.
  • INDUSTRY ACCOUNTABILITY: A hearing was held on MD HB-947. VA HB-318 and VA SB-491 are on their way to the governor’s desk. At least seven states have bills pending that would allow survivors to hold the gun industry accountable in court.
  • EXTREME RISK PROTECTION ORDERS: MA HB-4139 is in conference. VA SB-258 is going to the governor’s desk. CA SB-899 is scheduled for a hearing on 3/12 and additional California bills are likely to be heard this month. MD HB-1267 is scheduled for a hearing on 3/6. At least 26 states have bills that would establish or strengthen laws that allow courts to issue orders to temporarily remove guns from those who pose a risk to themselves or others.

Gun Lobby Bills in Motion

  • GUNS IN SCHOOLS: UT HB-84 and UT HB-119 are headed to the governor’s desk. IA HSB-675 has passed a committee and been renumbered IA HF-2586. KY SB-2 passed a committee. TN HB-1631, WY HB-125, and WY SB-86 each passed their chambers of origin. SC HB-4649 is scheduled for the house floor on 3/5. Dangerous bills to allow or expand the ability to carry guns in school or on campus are pending in at least 25 states.
  • PERMITLESS CARRY: LA SB-1 has been sent to the governor. SC HB-3594 is in conference. Bills to remove requirements for a permit to carry a concealed weapon are pending in at least nine states.
  • STAND YOUR GROUND: UT HB-369 is headed to the governor. WV HB-5621 passed its chamber of origin. At least 12 states have bills that would extend the right to use deadly force and claim self-defense.
  • LIABILITY FOR ENFORCING GUN LAWS:Bills that would make law enforcement officers or other state and local government officials personally liable, or otherwise impose onerous penalties on law enforcement agencies or localities, for enforcing federal gun laws are pending in at least 15 states.
  • MERCHANT CATEGORY CODE: IN HB-1084 passed both chambers and is in conference. UT HB-406 and WI SB-466 passed both chambers and are headed to their respective governor’s desks. GA HB-1018, KY HB-357, OH SB-148, WY SB-105, and IA HB-2464 passed their chambers of origin. At least 15 states have bills pending that would prohibit credit card companies or similar entities from using a code to identify firearm businesses.
  • MANDATORY BANKING: WV HB-5694 and AZ SB-1167 passed their chambers of origin. IA Senate Study Bill 3094 passed a subcommittee. Bills that would penalize banks or other companies that refuse to do business with the gun industry are pending in at least 14 states.


January 2024: Virginia’s Progress

Legislative sessions have begun in most states, and gun violence prevention bills are already on the move across the country.

For the Virginia legislature, 2024 promises to be a productive year for gun safety. After listening to Virginia residents, lawmakers are likely to put multiple gun violence prevention bills on Governor Glenn Youngkin’s desk that address a wide array of gun policies, including banning assault weapons, auto sears, and ghost guns; limiting the carrying of concealed handguns in public; and ensuring that people convicted of domestic violence turn over their guns. As of February 1, six bills had already passed one chamber, and many other bills had passed out of committee. 

Virginia is prioritizing gun safety once again.

For some longtime gun safety advocates, this activity may feel a little like déjà vu. In 2020 and 2021, following prominent mass shootings in the state, Virginia enacted numerous gun safety bills under then governor Ralph Northam. In 2020, Virginia passed laws that require background checks, require the reporting of lost or stolen firearms, ban bump stocks, allow people to put themselves on a list so they cannot buy firearms, and limit the purchase of handguns to one per month. Then in 2021, Virginia passed laws that disarm people who have committed domestic violence; allow courts to issue extreme risk protection orders; protect polling places, schools, and government buildings from guns; and allow the state police five business days to conduct a background check. Thanks to these new gun safety measures, Virginia’s grade jumped from a D to a B in GIFFORDS Law Center’s Annual Gun Law Scorecard

While progress may have slowed in 2022 and 2023, Virginia was still able to improve its grade from a B to a B+ by investing in community violence prevention programs. In 2023 in particular, Virginia invested $34 million in community violence intervention (CVI) and created the Office of Safer Communities. Governor Youngkin also signed into law a $10 million, one-time appropriation to create the Virginia Mass Violence Care Fund, designed to provide assistance to victims and survivors of mass shootings, as well as their families. 

Despite this progress, Virginians continue to suffer from gun violence. 

The state is a major source of guns trafficked into Maryland, New York, New Jersey, and DC. The District of Columbia, in particular, has been hard hit by gun violence in recent years, and Virginia’s less-than-adequate gun laws bear some responsibility. 

In addition, gun violence in Virginia made headlines last year when a six-year-old boy critically injured a teacher with a handgun in a first grade classroom in Newport News, Virginia. The handgun used by the boy was purchased by his mother and was kept in their home until the boy brought it to school in his backpack the day of the shooting. A few months later, a high school graduation in Richmond was the site of a mass shooting.

Legislators will continue to fight for safer communities.

Luckily, following the results of last year’s elections, gun safety is once again a top priority for the state legislature. In November, Democrats retained control over the state senate and took control of the house of delegates—and, in what one reporter has called a “replay of 2020,” the legislature has already demonstrated a real hunger to pass gun laws that will reduce gun violence. It’s also sparked speculation about whether the Republican governor will sign gun safety legislation into law or veto the popular policies. In the meantime, legislators are continuing to listen to their constituents and put in the work to create safer communities for us all.

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