‘A recipe for disaster’: ATF sees alarming increase in glock switches in S.C., nationwide

machine guns are leaving War zones and spilling onto our streets that's according to the ATF and it's all thanks to something you may not be able to spot our Michaela Evans joins us live in the control room with her special report explaining the issue and how law enforcement are trying to curve it Michaela good morning Lauren good morning the ATF is seeing an alarming increase in Glock switches and other gun conversion kits across the country and right here in our backyards all it takes is a lit

tle device inserted into the back of a gun small easy to make and out of control they can pretty much expel about 30 rounds of ammunition in under two seconds Brian mean the second in command at the ATF Charlotte field office says Glock switches are becoming more and more common despite being illegal Nationwide the device is roughly the size of a nickel but can turn a semi-auto into a fully automatic weapon which the ATF considers a machine gun firing fast but inaccurately it's really a recipe f

or disaster even the most experienced shooters that test fire these devices have a hard time staying on target with them mean says the ATF reports authorities sees 63 Glock switches in South Carolina last year but that number could be a lot higher since local law enforcement agencies are not required to give the ATF a heads up if they find one also a lot of times these devices are so small or hard to spot they go unnoticed but not always North Myrtle Beach police officer Patrick Wilkinson says h

is Department sees two Glock switches last year if you look at the back it stands out both inside cars a police report wmbf news obtained claims officers found a r Camaro on Main Street in February with no one inside but a gun and a Glock switch laying on the floorboard a month later officers reportedly stopped a speeding car from out of town and found a stolen gun with a Glock switch in the glove box police quickly made arrests in both cases and Wilkinson says eagle-eyed officers are to think t

hat's how we intercept those types of weapons that's how we intercept the poison that is getting brought into our you know our cities and our communities and harming those that we care about is us being able to stop it before it gets here it's a similar story in the PD where Florence County deputies have recovered three guns with Glock switches in the last year two of those seized in what deputies call High problem areas Sheriff's Office spokesperson Mike nun tells me this would not be possible

without the agency's criminal enforcement unit he says those investigators keep a close eye on everything from small roads to Major interstates and know exactly what to look for these guys do hundreds and hundreds of traffic stops they're trained to recognize the signs of individuals who may be involved in other criminal activity it might be human trafficking it might be narcotics trafficking it might be gun running Dylan police also say they've recovered two guns with Glock switches in the last

year one during a traffic stop and another on someone under 18 years old while making a pickup for the Department of Juvenile Justice several other agencies including Ory County Police say they do not track those numbers but others tell me they luckily have not encountered the issue in the meantime the ATF says South Carolina is already on track to surpass the number of Glock switches found during 2023 and it's going to take everyone's help to continue taking them off our streets and it's not j

ust a situation where we can simply arrest our way out of the problem you know we've got to do a lot of other things to get in front of these issues M says that starts with making sure folks who do own guns are storing them safely the ATF also trains with state and local agencies teaching investigators how to spot and identify Glocks witches mean tells me getting caught with one could result in a prison sentence up to 10 years live with this special report I'm Michaela Evans wbf news