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Officials look to stop spread of 'Glock switches'
A piece of plastic the size of a LEGO can turn a legal pistol into a machine gun. Federal officials say the so-called "switches" are becoming more common on the streets of Texas.
DALLAS - U.S. Attorneys across Texas announced a new statewide initiative looking to keep illegal machine gun conversion devices, more commonly known as "switches" off the streets.
"Switches" are a piece of plastic about the size of a LEGO that can convert legal firearms into fully-automatic weapons.
The device, which can be 3D printed, generally slides onto the back of the gun and can fire dozens of shots with one pull of the trigger.
On Monday, the U.S. Attorneys announced an initiative called "Operation Texas Kill Switch," to try to stop the spread of the devices.
In a demonstration, more than 30 shots were fired in less than 2 seconds.
"This is the most dangerous problem I have seen in my time on the job," said Jeffrey Boshek II, the Special Agent in Charge of the ATF's Dallas Field Division.
ATF agents say the devices are appearing more often in Texas.
"In the last five years, the number of switches on our streets have increased almost six-fold," said Leigha Simonton, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas. "This one-inch piece of plastic is killing people."
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Glock switches can be installed onto a pistol and instead of one bullet firing per trigger pull, several shots are fired very quickly.
From 2017 to 2023, Texas-based ATF agents seized 991 switches. 490 of those were seized in 2023.
In November 2023, a Dallas police officer was shot in the calf while serving a warrant for a capital murder suspect.
Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia said the suspect, Jordan Owens, fired 15 gunshots at officers using a full-auto switch.
SAC Boshek told FOX 4 a Glock switch was used in a deadly shooting in Deep Ellum back in 2022.
The shooting killed two people and injured three others. Two of them were struck by stray gunfire.
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ATF shows how a Glock Switch works
The ATF demonstrates the difference in a semi-automatic pistol and one equipped with a Glock Switch.
Even in the hands of a trained firearms professional, switches make handguns nearly impossible to control and fire accurately.
Boshek says switches cost about 8 cents to make, but are sold for $100 to $400 apiece.
"We have fentanyl from a narcotics perspective, we have machine gun conversion devices from a firearm perspective," said Boshek. "It's a daily battle to stay ahead of these things on the streets."
As part of the initiative, local Crime Stoppers programs will offer cash rewards for information that leads to the information and prosecution of people who own switches or use 3D printers to make them.