Photo by Peter Hall/Pennsylvania Capital-Star The Pennsylvania House chamber is seen.

Emotional debate and rising tempers preceded a vote Wednesday on state House legislation to ban devices used to make semi-automatic handguns fire as quickly as machine guns.

The bill, which would add machine gun conversion devices, known as Glock switches, to Pennsylvania’s list of prohibited offensive weapons, was the fourth in a package of legislation aimed at toughening gun laws the House Judiciary Committee put up for floor votes last week.

Action on the bills followed a series of high-profile shootings in September including the ambush killings of three York County police and the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk in Utah.

House Bill 1866 failed in a 101-102 vote when Rep. Frank Burns (D-Cambria) cast the only Democratic vote in opposition. As in the case of two gun-reform bills rejected Tuesday, Burns joined Republicans who voted unanimously against the conversion device ban. The House did pass a measure Tuesday with bipartisan support that would require background checks for shotguns and rifles, which is not currently required in Pennsylvania.

During debate on the machine gun conversion device bill, a shouting match broke out between several lawmakers on opposite sides of the House after Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D-Philadelphia) strayed into fiery rhetoric critical of gun rights advocates and their view of the Second Amendment as a bulwark against tyranny.

“Save me your self righteous speeches about standing up [to] tyranny when you do nothing to stand up [to] tyranny, consistently,” Kenyatta said.

The incident was not included in a livestream of the House floor and the only indication was Speaker Joanna McClinton calling for the House sergeant at arms to clear the aisle and for lawmakers to take their seats. She later delivered a stern admonition, saying she was disappointed by what occurred earlier.

“I cannot hear what insults and slurs are said across the aisle to each other, but let me remind each of you, if you make threats, that could be a crime. That’s free legal advice,” McClinton said, adding that the sergeant at arms and Capitol police would conduct investigations.

“It’s one thing to give feedback after people speak or to joke and jest, but it is absolutely unacceptable and it will not be tolerated that any threats are made with the climate in which we’re blessed to be alive and serve. Threats will be taken seriously,” McClinton said.

Minority Leader Jesse Topper (R-Bedford) said in a statement that tensions are high in the Capitol for a number of reasons, but as elected officials, lawmakers must conduct themselves “in a manner that is reflective of this great institution and the fine communities we all represent.”

The bill’s prime sponsor Rep. Mandy Steele (D-Allegheny) said she advanced the measure in the memory of Brackenridge Police Chief Justin McIntire. He was murdered in 2023 by a suspect using a pistol that had been converted to fire at a rate of hundreds of rounds per minute.

“Chief McIntyre’s surviving family wants these senseless devices off the street, and so does every police chief that I represent,” Steele said, presenting a list of 16 municipalities where the top law enforcement officials back a state-level ban.

Also known as auto-sears or “Glock switches” for the popular handgun maker whose guns the devices are sometimes used to modify, machine gun conversion devices are small metal or plastic objects. They interfere with a gun’s firing mechanism, allowing the shooter to fire many shots with a single pull of the trigger, Steele said.

“This is not an infringement upon the Second Amendment. This is honoring the police that we have lost and stopping the heartache of losing one more to the insanity of 900 bullets a minute,” Steele said, noting that law enforcement officials in deeply conservative states have spoken in support of similar measures.

“It would turn my stomach to see this body vote against our police by forcing them to have to continue to endure this madness because that is what a no vote is today,” Steele said.

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