Federal prosecutors in Texas have warned that the same 3D printers used to create car parts and jewelry are being used to make small plastic blocks that can turn pistols into machine guns. Texas has become the latest to go after the deadly "switch" inserts. U.S. attorneys announced "Operation Texas Kill Switch," a statewide operation to target machine gun conversion devices, also known as switches or auto-sears. The switches, which prosecutors said can be made within minutes using a standard 3D printer, have been used in shootings across several cities, including Houston, Sacramento and Washington D.C., USA Today reports. “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,” said northern Texas U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton. “Machine gun conversion devices can turn Second Amendment-protected firearms into illegal weapons of war, and petty criminals into brutal killers. We cannot have our streets turned into war zones."
A standard 3D printer can make about 100 plastic switches in 72 hours, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. and a switch-equipped gun can fire several hundred rounds per minute, ATF spokesperson Kristina Mastropasqua said. ATF seized 5,454 machine gun converters between 2017 and 2021, up by 570% from between 2012 to 2016. In Texas alone, ATF agents seized nearly 1,000 switches between 2017 and 2023, and half of them were recovered just last year. Federal gun agents said the switches are often sold over social media, marketed to adults and juveniles alike. The National Firearms Act classifies the switch itself as a machine gun. Local Crime Stopper programs in Texas are offering cash rewards until Aug. 31 for information that leads to the apprehension or prosecution of people who possess switches or 3D printers that are being used to manufacture them.
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