The earsplitting, heart-stopping roar of fully automatic weapons hasn’t been often heard on America’s streets since Congress largely outlawed them in 1934. But now it’s back, owing to a small device that is easily plugged into certain handguns and rifles, converting semiautomatic firearms into guns capable of firing 20 bullets in one second — with one pull of the trigger.
In Sacramento last year, a handgun converted into a machine gun was used during a gun battle that left six dead, in what has been called Sacramento’s deadliest mass shooting. In Minneapolis, eight people were wounded in August amid a spray of 40 bullets fired in just seconds. In 2021, a Houston police officer was killed and another wounded by a suspect with a pistol equipped with the device.
And in D.C.’s NoMa neighborhood in August last year, a drug dealer who was shot at returned fire with 24 shots in one burst along North Capitol Street, authorities said. His target, a car that had been used in a drive-by shooting, sped away, while two people were wounded, according to court records.
“It’s incredibly scary,” said Matthew M. Graves, the District’s U.S. attorney, citing the rising number of conversion devices found in the city in recent years. There were 27 guns recovered with the devices in 2021. The number rose to 119 last year, and, as of late October, the number was more than 150, Graves said. Police often find extended magazines attached to the guns, to hold more than the standard 12 or 13 bullets contained in most magazines, and they have even seized round drum magazines, which can hold 50 or more bullets.
Continues...
In Sacramento last year, a handgun converted into a machine gun was used during a gun battle that left six dead, in what has been called Sacramento’s deadliest mass shooting. In Minneapolis, eight people were wounded in August amid a spray of 40 bullets fired in just seconds. In 2021, a Houston police officer was killed and another wounded by a suspect with a pistol equipped with the device.
And in D.C.’s NoMa neighborhood in August last year, a drug dealer who was shot at returned fire with 24 shots in one burst along North Capitol Street, authorities said. His target, a car that had been used in a drive-by shooting, sped away, while two people were wounded, according to court records.
“It’s incredibly scary,” said Matthew M. Graves, the District’s U.S. attorney, citing the rising number of conversion devices found in the city in recent years. There were 27 guns recovered with the devices in 2021. The number rose to 119 last year, and, as of late October, the number was more than 150, Graves said. Police often find extended magazines attached to the guns, to hold more than the standard 12 or 13 bullets contained in most magazines, and they have even seized round drum magazines, which can hold 50 or more bullets.
Continues...
