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.
Houston police brought 19 cases involving guns that had been modified with what are referred to as “Glock switches” earlier this year, including one related to a shootout that left three police officers wounded. In 2021, a Houston police officer was killed while serving a warrant after the criminal pulled a Glock with a switch and opened fire. In April, six people were killed in a gang shootout in downtown Sacramento, California, where one of the criminals used a gun that had a Glock switch, according to authorities.
