It’s a small but powerful device that law enforcement says is increasingly putting the lives of officers and the public at risk.
Commonly known as ‘Glock switches’, the nickel-sized device can turn a handgun into an illegal machine gun.
When Dallas police and U.S. Marshalls went to arrest a capital murder suspect last week they were met with gunfire. One Dallas officer was shot in the leg.
At a press conference Monday, Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia said the department was fortunate no officers were killed.
Get DFW local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC DFW newsletters.
Garcia said suspect 20-year-old Jordan Owens fired a modified handgun at officers that was equipped with a ‘switch’ or ‘sear’ that allows a semi-automatic to fire automatically in seconds.
“He was armed with an illegal weapon with a modification we and our law enforcement partners work to take off our streets daily,” Garcia said.
The nickel-sized device is banned by the federal government but Garcia has repeatedly called for more to be done.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Dallas officers have recovered 53 firearms with the device this year, per a spokesperson.
Special Deputy U.S. Marshall and McKinney lawmaker Frederick Frazier says he’s heard from police chiefs, gang investigators and district attorneys from across Texas asking for a statewide ban.
“This is what law enforcement is asking for. This is what your community is asking for to get these off the streets,” Frazier said.
Frazier said federal agents and prosecutors are overwhelmed with cases and believes a state ban would give local law enforcement more teeth and curb their use.
He said the device has become popular with young people, in part, because they are relatively cheap and can now be easily manufactured with 3D printers.
Numbers provided by the ATF Dallas office show the spike in recovered switches from 36 in 2021 to 1,026 in 2022. So far this year their agents have recovered 258.
ATF credits the decline this year to their takedown of a manufacturer in 2022 and working with local police.
Frazier’s bill to ban the device received majority support in the Texas House but did not make it out of the regular session. He’s refiled it as HB 113 during this latest special session.
“This bill protects [officers]. Not only does it protect them, but this protects the citizens that are going to get hit with one of these," Frazier said.
