"Illegally imported, manufactured domestically or even 3D printed from computer files, machine-gun conversion devices -- or 'auto sears' -- offer a way for criminals to convert some types of weapons into fully automatic versions."
"Designed for some semiautomatic pistols, switches easily convert the weapon to a fully automatic machine gun by clipping to the back of the barrel."
"The switch changes the pistol's function by overriding a mechanical armature that would otherwise allow only one shot to be fired at a time."
"When the trigger is pulled, contact between the switch and armature enables all the rounds to be automatically fired without repeatedly squeezing the trigger. Dozens of rounds can be fired in just a few seconds with larger magazines that hold 30 rounds or more."
"Minneapolis and St. Paul police only started tracking switches in the past two years, as reports of shooters spraying high volumes of bullets began to climb. In Minneapolis, officers went from processing 4,678 discharged cartridge casings in 2019 to more than 10,600 each of the last two years."
'An evil arms race': Switch devices are turning more handguns into machine guns
