The $50 Device That Turns Handguns Into Automatic Weapons

livemint.com:

Sheriff’s Deputy Jeremy Malone’s life ended moments after he pulled over a car without license plates by a Dollar General store in rural Mississippi last month. The driver pulled out a pistol illegally modified with a small device known as a Glock switch, which made it capable of fully automatic gunfire, according to police. Malone, a 44-year-old father of three, was killed instantly in a barrage of bullets.

Nearly a century after a federal crackdown on machine guns largely ended the use of automatic weapons by criminals, they are back on the rise thanks to Glock switches, an illegal modification that lets Glock-brand pistols fire continuously with one trigger pull. Glock switches are about the size of a thumbnail, easy to install, and typically sell for between $50 and $100. Authorities have struggled to regulate them as they have exploded in popularity recently because they can be manufactured cheaply and quickly on 3-D printers.

Previously, most Glock switches were imported to the U.S. from other countries. “They’re easily made, they are non-traceable and the profit margin is so high," said Jeff Boshek, special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Dallas field division.

A representative for Glock, maker of some of the bestselling handguns in the U.S., didn’t respond to requests for comment. Similar devices can make other pistols and AR-15-style rifles fire automatically, but those aren’t as commonly used in violent crimes. Their growing use means even as the number of shootings in major cities is falling following a pandemic-era spike, each shooting is becoming potentially deadlier.