Glock 17 Gen 6 9mm Pistol. Img Duncan Johnson
After clearing the Connecticut House in April, the so-called “convertible pistol” bill passed the state Senate 22–11 after an overnight debate and is now headed to Gov. Ned Lamont’s desk. Local reporting says senators debated the bill from about 3 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. before approving it Wednesday morning.
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HB 5043 is not a narrow bill aimed only at criminals caught with illegal machine-gun conversion devices. It targets the future sale and importation of common semiautomatic pistols, Connecticut politicians claim, can be “readily” converted with a so-called Glock switch.
The bill defines a “convertible pistol” as a semiautomatic pistol with a cruciform trigger bar that can be altered by hand or with a common household tool so the pistol can be converted into a machine gun by installing or attaching a pistol converter. The bill excludes hammer-fired pistols and certain shielded designs, but the target is obvious: Glock-style striker-fired handguns, among the most common defensive pistols in America.
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If signed, the ban takes effect on October 1, 2026. The bill would make it a Class D felony to import, advertise, sell, offer, or expose for sale covered “convertible pistols,” with penalties reported as up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
AmmoLand previously reported that the House passed HB 5043 86–64 on April 22, with every House Republican and 15 Democrats voting no. At that point, the bill was headed to the Senate. Now it has cleared both chambers and sits where Gov. Lamont wanted it all along: on his desk.
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Lamont introduced the proposal, and anti-gun Democrats sold it as a response to illegal Glock switches. That excuse falls apart quickly. Machine guns are already illegal under Connecticut law. Conversion devices are already heavily restricted under federal law. Criminals installing illegal switches are already breaking the law. HB 5043 instead punishes lawful buyers, dealers, and manufacturers by attacking the handgun itself.
Republicans made that point during the debate. Sen. Rob Sampson said the bill bans “perfectly lawful firearms” even though Glock switches and illegal conversions are already prohibited.
Supporters claim the bill is not taking anyone’s existing guns. That is a dodge. A ban on future lawful sales is still a ban. It cuts off ordinary citizens from purchasing some of the most widely used defensive handguns in the country while doing nothing meaningful to the criminals already ignoring the law.
