![]() ![]() ![]() The devices are marketed online on popular social media platforms, ecommerce sites, and forums, and can cost as little as $20.Īuto sears for Glock handguns, called “switches,” have become so popular that they’ve been name-dropped in rap songs and mailed to the company’s headquarters for repairs by unwitting customers, former employees told The Trace. According to Homeland Security Investigations, most of the devices originate from China. In the last decade, foreign manufacturers have started producing auto sears in large quantities and sending them to the U.S. Without the proper licensing and taxes paid, possession of one of the devices is punishable with up to 10 years in prison. But in 1981, the ATF ruled that an auto sear is, legally, a machine gun. With some elbow grease, an auto sear can convert popular semiautomatic rifles and handguns into machine guns. The auto sear was invented in the 1970s as a way for gunsmiths and hobbyists to fashion their own automatic weapons away from the watchful eyes of the government. These requirements significantly drove up the cost of owning a machine gun, and as a result ownership became rare. The National Firearms Act of 1934 required anyone who owned a fully automatic weapon to register it with the government and pay a $200 tax, equivalent to about $4,000 today. Machine guns have been subject to strict federal regulation for nearly 90 years. Industry insiders and law enforcement officials interviewed for this story questioned whether the agency has the power to do more than it’s already doing. They’re also asking the agency to put a stop to the companies “pushing the legal limits on these devices.” But finding an effective solution may be difficult. In their letter, members of Congress asked the ATF to be more explicit in calling conversion devices illegal and to crack down on them. But they should also be putting some of the liability for the misuse of these weapons - if that misuse is predictable and apparent - onto the manufacturers.” ![]() “They should be enforcing the law on the ground. “The ATF is the primary federal regulator for firearms and should be playing quarterback here,” said Representative Jake Auchincloss, a Democrat from Massachusetts, who signed the letter. Auto sears, which can cost less than $20 online, have changed that. For decades, fully automatic weapons were expensive, collectable, and rarely used in crimes. ![]()
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