Is a Glock switch illegal? Here's what you need to know now about the devices

Max Filby, The Columbus Dispatch
·3 min read
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Columbus Police Sgt. Brett Slaughter holds a "switch" used to turn a handgun into a machine gun. He said the devices are not legal in the United States, but the Police have taken more than two dozen of them off the streets this year.
Columbus Police Sgt. Brett Slaughter holds a "switch" used to turn a handgun into a machine gun. He said the devices are not legal in the United States, but the Police have taken more than two dozen of them off the streets this year.

A tiny device has been popping up on Columbus streets, and law enforcement fear it may pose an outsized risk to central Ohioans this summer.

Glock switches have surged in popularity among Columbus criminals and police report they're finding them more and more. The devices can transform a semi-automatic handgun into a fully-automatic weapon, which is an illegal modification.

Under Fire Series: Glock switches on Columbus streets: Here's how the tiny devices pose an outsized threat

While the switches are becoming more common and have existed for decades, they're a new threat to many Ohioans.

Here's what you need to know about Glock switches and what the increase in the devices means for Columbus.

What does a Glock switch do?

A Glock switch is a small gadget that can be attached to the back of certain handguns, usually Glocks, according to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

A typical handgun can fire one bullet for every pull of a trigger. But on a gun modified with a switch, a shooter can simply hold down the trigger.

That essentially makes the firearm a machine gun, a weapon that was banned decades ago in the U.S.

Why are Glock switches considered dangerous?

The device allows a gun to fire dozens of bullets per second, according to the ATF.

A gun that fires that quickly can be difficult to control, said John Gripshover, an assistant Franklin County prosecutor who directs the office's gun unit. That means a shooter with the weapon is more likely to hit innocent bystanders.

A push to ban machine guns in the U.S. began after the 1929 St. Valentine's Day massacre, in Chicago in which gang violence led to seven murders using the since-banned weapons, according to news reports.

In 1934, Congress passed the National Firearms Act, which made machine guns illegal, according to the ATF. The act was updated in 1986 to include Glock switches in the definition of a machine gun.

Read More: He was paralyzed in a random shooting at Dick’s Den. Here’s what his life looks like now.

Do Glock switches go by any other names?

Glock switches, as they're commonly referred to, got their name because it's easiest to apply one to a Glock handgun.

But the devices go by many names, according to law enforcement.

They are also sometimes called:

  • Auto-sear

  • Glock auto-sear

  • Lightning link

  • Swift link

  • Selector switch

  • Chip

What's the penalty for having a Glock switch?

Putting a Glock switch on a gun is illegal. But possessing a Glock switch is also illegal in and of itself.

Someone caught with a Glock switch can face up to 10 years in prison if prosecuted at the federal level. The penalty can vary widely though, various cases show.

In Cincinnati, Gionni Dews was charged for having a switch attached to a gun. He was convicted and sentenced in October to three years in prison.

Multiple cases where people have been charged with possession of a machine gun are still pending in court locally.

Dispatch reporter Jennifer Smola Shaffer contributed to this story

mfilby@dispatch.com

@MaxFilby

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: What is a Glock switch? Here's what you need to know now