Texas prosecutors hope to get illegal 3D-printed machine-gun switches off the streets
U.S. attorneys from across Texas and the ATF announced a new statewide initiative to crack down on switches — illegal machine-gun conversion devices that can be made on a 3D printer.
Switches can “transform commercially available firearms into fully automatic weapons capable of firing faster than military-grade M4s,” federal authorities said Monday as they announced “Operation Texas Kill Switch.”
“We’re here to talk about a roughly one-inch piece of plastic. It looks innocuous enough, a little like a Lego or a K’nex block. But this one-inch piece of plastic is killing people,” U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton of the Northern District of Texas said at a news conference Monday in Dallas. “Machine-gun conversion devices can turn Second Amendment-protected firearms into illegal weapons of war, and petty criminals into brutal killers.”
The number of switches found by law enforcement has increased dramatically in recent years, and they have been used in at least one mass shooting and multiple attacks that killed police officers, authorities said. According to the ATF, its agents based in Texas seized 991 of the devices between 2017 and 2023, and 50% of those were seized last year.
Switches can be made from metal or plastic and are often sold over social media, authorities said. The devices typically can be slotted into the butt of a gun to make it fully automatic and capable of firing dozens of rounds with one pull of the trigger. Legal semi-automatic guns fire only one round when the trigger is pulled.
“We cannot have our streets turned into war zones,” Simonton said. “We cannot — and we will not — allow switches to proliferate in North Texas.”
Possession of the devices is illegal except in very limited circumstances, according to the National Firearms Act. A conviction can carry a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in the federal system.
The statewide operation includes a partnership with Crime Stopper programs across Texas. From now through Aug. 31, Crime Stoppers will offer cash rewards for information leading to the arrest or prosecution of people who possess switches or 3D printers used to manufacture them. To be eligible for cash rewards, tipsters must provide information to their local Crime Stoppers program. Information may also be submitted directly to the ATF at atf.gov/contact/atf-tips.
