The devices are banned under federal law and in 23 states, according to Everytown for Gun Safety. Supporters said a state ban will allow local law enforcement to prosecute people for the possession of the devices. Police say the devices produce a rapid, hard-to-control spray of bullets that increase the number of casualties during a shooting. ????

Republican state Sen. Will Barfoot of Pike Road sponsored the bill that was approved this year. Possessing or selling the devices would be a Class C felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. ????????????  

“Passing gun safety legislation in Alabama is not easy. But the hard work of building a bipartisan coalition has resulted in the passage of this life-saving legislation,” said state Rep. Phillip Ensler, a Montgomery Democrat, who had urged the measure for three years. ?????  

The Alabama Senate voted 24-2 to accept the House of Representatives changes to the bill. The measure now goes to Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, who is expected to sign it after calling for its passage in her State of the State address. ????? ???????  

A bipartisan coalition pushed the Alabama legislation after several multiple mass shootings last year, including the shooting deaths of four people outside a Birmingham nightclub in September. The devices are already banned under federal law, but there’s currently no state law that bans them. ????????????