TexasCHLforum.com

srothstein wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 8:30 pm

Paladin wrote: ↑Mon Sep 26, 2022 3:30 pm ‘Glock Switches’: Turning Hand Guns Into Machine Guns Becoming Popular Among Gangsters

Unlicensed switches have started to proliferate in the past several years after some people in China started to make them and sell them online. They’re usually mailed to the United States directly or smuggled in through Mexico, according to the ATF. Some have also been made domestically on 3D printers. The agency has identified about 2,500 people who may have bought one, WGN TV reported in 2019.

...There are a small number of such switches that are legally owned by people with the required license. Some law enforcement agencies have them, too, according to Heller.

I am super amused by this part. First of all, why would law enforcement have such a firearm as described? I know that they are used in SWAT raids but should they be? It's easy to shoot yourself if you don't know what you are doing. My understanding is that Glock required specific training before they would sell law enforcement a select fire G18, but even then I am unsure the training would enough to make the G18 a real asset to law enforcement.

I have never seen any justification at all for a police department having full auto weapons, at least not since Ness went up against Capone and his ilk and I am not sure even then. I was successful with this argument one time, though I am not sure if it was my convincing ways, others agreeing, or the director's personal opinion. When TABC received 150 M16s from the Army, the first thing we did was change them all to semi-auto only. of course we had to test fire them before and after the changeover to ensure they were working properly. Amazingly enough, there was no shortage of volunteers to help test the full auto functionality.

I am not even 100% convinced that police need rifles like the AR-15 for their jobs, at least not for every patrolman. As a patrolman in a rural area, I preferred to carry a lever action rifle in .44 mag. I expected I might need it to put an animal (cow or horse) down after some type of accident and I would not want to get close enough to use a pistol (an injured horse or cow would be kicking and that is not a good thing to get in the way of). This is not to say there is no use for a rifle in law enforcement, just that I think it is a more specialized weapon that not every cop needs.

For patrolmen in most cases, I still recommend a 12 gauge shotgun if they need something more than a pistol. But I am old (and old-fashioned), and learned my police work in a different time. I have not been an active cop in about 15 years and thinks may have changed. I could be wrong about the rifle but I have still not seen any argument that convinces me of full auto.

The rise in murders in recent years has been accompanied by another trend—criminals are increasingly modifying their firearms to enable fully automatic fire, converting simple handguns into tiny machine guns.

Unlicensed switches have started to proliferate in the past several years after some people in China started to make them and sell them online. They’re usually mailed to the United States directly or smuggled in through Mexico, according to the ATF. Some have also been made domestically on 3D printers. The agency has identified about 2,500 people who may have bought one, WGN TV reported in 2019.

Such a firearm is highly impractical, as the rapid recoil and small size make it difficult to control and wildly inaccurate. Because most Glocks use 9mm ammunition, the recoil is rather strong and the muzzle will increasingly jerk up the longer one holds the trigger, explained Charles Heller, firearms instructor and radio host in Arizona.

“If you run a Glock full-auto you’re going to be shooting airplanes pretty quick,” he told The Epoch Times.

...There are a small number of such switches that are legally owned by people with the required license. Some law enforcement agencies have them, too, according to Heller.