The Texas House on Thursday approved a bill that would outlaw tiny devices used to modify handguns essentially into fully automatic firearms — but avoided a full chamber vote on raising the minimum age to purchase semi-automatic rifles after a representative tried tacking the proposal onto the bill as an amendment.
House Bill 3266, from Rep. Frederick Frazier, R-McKinney, would criminalize 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.
The devices, commonly known as “Glock switches,” are already illegal to possess or manufacture under federal law. The bill would give local authorities and prosecutors the ability to levy charges.