The Return of the Machine Gun

[Dial H For Hero]

https://www.thetrace.org/2022/03/auto-sear-gun-chip-glock-switch-automatic-conversion/

The Mongolian Boys Society was out for revenge. Six members of the Fresno, California, criminal gang huddled in a vacation rental in November 2019, cleaning their guns in preparation to retaliate against the Asian Crips for the suspected killing of one of their own.

According to court records, one of the “triggermen” carried a Glock pistol outfitted with an auto sear, a small device the size of a thimble that transformed his semiautomatic weapon into a machine gun capable of firing 20 rounds per second. Around 8 p.m., the crew drove across town to a palm tree-lined street. Moments later, in one of the backyards, they opened fire on a gathering of people. Bullets sprayed through the crowd, killing four and wounding six.

But the house was not a rival gang den; police later determined the gathering was a family that had gotten together to watch football. Six members of the Mongolian Boys Society were arrested for their alleged involvement in the mass shooting. Three face the death penalty.

With VICE News, we document the rise of the auto sear, a small, cheap device that converts a semiautomatic firearm into an automatic one. Court records show that auto sears have been used in robberies, homicides, and extremist attacks.
An auto sear — the most common automatic conversion device — transforms a semiautomatic gun into a weapon capable of emptying an entire magazine with a single pull of the trigger. Also known as switches or chips, auto sears have been around since the ‘70s but are exceedingly tough to acquire legally in the United States, where machine guns cannot legally be owned without a special license. In recent years, these small metal or plastic devices have exploded in popularity on the black market and gained a particular cachet among criminals and anti-government extremists. Last year, members of the Boogaloo Boys, an accelerationist movement that hopes to spark a second civil war, used weapons equipped with auto sears to attack a federal courthouse.

(Excerpt)

While there are mitigations to this problem, I don't see a practical solution as such. As the article points out, the authorities can intercept some of these sears as they're being imported, but surely not all. And given that a sear is just a piece of plastic that can be 3D printed, there's virtually no way to prevent anyone who's willing to risk the quite substantial legal penalties from simply cranking out as many as they wish.

And for those who say we should simply take everyone's guns (pardon me, 'gunz'), you and I both know that's not going to happen.

[AndyS]

1. To simply say "nothing can be done" is a surrender. Americans haven't been

given to surrender through history. There are color inkjet printers yet we work really hard at limiting child porn.

One thing we could do is fully fund the BATF&E and confirm a Director. Another thing would be to rain on the parade in every "second amendment sanctuary" by withholding all Federal funds. We could pass new definitions of what we consider illegal firearms by defining functions instead of cosmetic appearance.

There is a lot we COULD do if sane people mobilize as well as the gun industry has and buy as many legislators as they have.

[Chainfire]

2. Machine guns have not "returned", they never left.

Anyone with no criminal record and about $20,000 to spend can legally own one. There have always been "hacks" to make semi-auto weapons fire automatically, most people don't do it because if caught in possession of one, you are looking at ten years in club fed.
Of course for career criminals, the threat of prison is meaningless, otherwise they would have jobs....

While the numbers may be changing, the use of machine guns in violent crime in America, regardless of what you see on TV, are extremely rare. Since the type of weapon was highly restricted in 1934, you could count the number of murders involving them on your fingers. It shows how gun control could work if we had the willpower.

[Amishman]

3. Ultimately a gun is a simple mechanical device

With the proliferation of home CNC equipment and 3D printing, attempting to control supply is increasingly difficult

[Dial H For Hero]

4. Exactly so. Those breaking the law can be punished after the fact, but preventing anyone willing to

risk such penalties from acquiring the hardware in the first place is virtually impossible, and will only be more so with time.

[Hoyt]

5. You tried those sears on your gunz, Hero?

[Dial H For Hero]

6. I have not. That would be flagrantly illegal, and I don't do such things.

Just as I’ve never committed (picking a random example) burglary.

[SYFROYH]

7. Back in the day, the pedestrian Shotgun News always had an ad for a Drop in Auto-Sear

My friends and I always thought it was a sting by the BATFE. I have no idea, but I knew better than to try to buy given that I had AR15s.