A Glock switch (sometimes called a button or a giggle switch) is a small device that can be attached to the rear of the

slide Slide or Slides may refer to: Places * Slide, California, former name of Fortuna, California Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Slide'' (Lisa Germano album), 1998 * ''Slide'' (George Clanton album), 2018 *''Slide'', by Patrick Glee ...

of a

Glock Glock (; stylized as GLOCK) is a brand of polymer- framed, short-recoil-operated, striker-fired, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military an ...

handgun A handgun is a firearm designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun, long barreled gun (i.e., carbine, rifle, shotgun, submachine gun, or machine gun) which typically is intended to be held by both hands and br ...

, changing the

semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol (also called a self-loading pistol, autopistol, or autoloading pistol) is a repeating firearm, repeating handgun that automatically ejects and loads cartridge (firearms), cartridges in its chamber (firearms), chamber afte ...

into a

selective fire Selective may refer to: * Selective school, a school that admits students on the basis of some sort of selection criteria ** Selective school (New South Wales) See also * Selective breeding Selective breeding (also called artificial select ...

machine pistol A machine pistol is a handgun that is capable of automatic firearm, fully automatic fire, including shoulder stock, stockless handgun-style submachine guns. The Austrians introduced the world's first machine pistol, the Steyr M1912 pistol#Masch ...

capable of

fully automatic An automatic firearm or fully automatic firearm (to avoid confusion with semi-automatic firearms) is a self-loading firearm that continuously chambers and fires rounds when the trigger mechanism is actuated. The action of an automatic firear ...

fire. As a type of

auto sear An auto sear ("automatic sear") is a part of an automatic firearm that holds the hammer in the cocked position while the bolt of the weapon is cycling and releases the hammer/striker. It is basically an internal trigger actuated by the bolt/bolt ...

, it functions by applying force to the trigger bar to prevent it from limiting fire to one round of ammunition per trigger pull. This device by itself, regardless if it is installed on a slide or not, is classified by the

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and prevention ...

(ATF) to be a machine gun, making possession of the device illegal in the United States under most circumstances. For reference, one model of Glock not available to civilians (the G18) has a built-in select-fire function and thus can also fire as fast as the short-recoil action can cycle. This allows the pistol to fire at approximately 1,200 rounds per minute, meaning it could empty a standard capacity 17 or extended 33 round magazine in 0.85 or 1.65 seconds respectively. The Glock 17 and 18 are identical in most respects except for the slide and its selective fire function, implying a Glock 17 could cycle at the same speed.

Operation

A Glock switch functions by applying force to a

's trigger bar (disconnector) to prevent it from limiting fire to one round of ammunition per trigger pull. Normally, in a semiautomatic pistol, after firing, the trigger bar catches the firing pin until the trigger is released, but when depressed by the switch it does not catch. A Glock switch thus converts the weapon into a

capable of automatic fire. The device is roughly the size of a United States quarter, and when installed on the rear of the

on a Glock pistol (replacing the slide cover plate), adds a

switch; flipping the switch sets the weapon to full automatic mode, which is capable of firing as many rounds per minute as the short-recoil action allows.

History

A patent for the Glock auto-sear was filed in 1996 and approved in 1998, with its invention credited to

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

n Jorge A. Leon, who claims to have invented the device in 1987. The first reported appearance of Glock switches in the United States occurred in 2002 when an

Argentinian Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

was arrested for sending Glock switches among other illegal firearms to the United States, with 16 later being recovered by the ATF in 2003. A handgun with a Glock switch attached fits the definition of a machine gun under United States federal law. The 1986

Firearm Owners Protection Act The Firearm Owners' Protection Act (FOPA) of 1986 is a United States federal law that revised many provisions of the Gun Control Act of 1968. Federal firearms law reform Under the Gun Control Act of 1968, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and ...

made new machine guns illegal for civilians to own, banning "possession and transfer of new automatic firearms and parts that fire bullets without stopping once the trigger is depressed", with the exception of machine guns manufactured prior to May 19, 1986. The penalties for possession of an unregistered machine gun in the United States are up to a $250,000

fine Fine may refer to: Characters * Fran Fine, the title character of ''The Nanny'' * Sylvia Fine (''The Nanny''), Fran's mother on ''The Nanny'' * Officer Fine, a character in ''Tales from the Crypt'', played by Vincent Spano Legal terms * Fine (p ...

and prison sentences of up to 10 years. In 2019, the ATF recovered thousands of the devices which were imported from China. Since 2021, people have been manufacturing the switch devices with 3D printers. In March 2022, a

Vice News Vice News (stylized as VICE News) is Vice Media's alternative current affairs channel, producing daily documentary essays and video through its website and YouTube channel. It promotes itself on its coverage of "under-reported stories". Vice Ne ...

investigation learned that the federal prosecutions which involved conversion devices have been rising since 2017. They determined that from 2017 to 2022, advances in low-cost 3D printers and global commerce on the internet have made the devices available for as little as US$20. In 2022, federal authorities documented a dramatic rise in the prevalence of the Glock switches.

Legality

In the United States, per the ATF: "A Glock Switch is a part which was designed and intended for use in converting a semi-automatic

Glock pistol Glock (; stylized as GLOCK) is a brand of polymer- framed, short-recoil-operated, striker-fired, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military an ...

into a machine gun; therefore, it is a "legal machine gun" as defined in 26 U.S.C. 5845(b)." These devices are therefore illegal for civilians to possess under federal law.

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite web , title=Jacksonville Man Sentenced To Five Years In Federal Prison For Selling Machinegun-Conversion Device To Undercover Agent , url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/jacksonville-man-sentenced-five-years-federal-prison-selling-machinegun-conversion , date=2 December 2022 , publisher=U.S. Department of Justice , access-date=29 December 2022, archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207204439/https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/jacksonville-man-sentenced-five-years-federal-prison-selling-machinegun-conversion, archive-date=December 7, 2022 {{cite web , title=Indictment: So-called 'Glock switches' Would have Turned Pistols into Machine Guns , url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-ks/pr/indictment-so-called-glock-switches-would-have-turned-pistols-machine-guns , date=30 May 2019 , publisher=U.S. Department of Justice , access-date=29 December 2022, archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411184932/https://www.justice.gov/usao-ks/pr/indictment-so-called-glock-switches-would-have-turned-pistols-machine-guns, archive-date= April 11, 2023 {{cite news , last1=Smith , first1=Kelli , title=Devices that turn pistols into illegal machine guns on the rise in Texas, chief says , url=https://www.news-journal.com/news/devices-that-turn-pistols-into-illegal-machine-guns-on-the-rise-in-texas-chief-says/article_34433f96-7a53-11ed-98c4-37bd7f02dd6a.html , access-date=29 December 2022 , publisher=The Dallas Morning News , date=13 December 2022, archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330222522/https://www.news-journal.com/news/devices-that-turn-pistols-into-illegal-machine-guns-on-the-rise-in-texas-chief-says/article_34433f96-7a53-11ed-98c4-37bd7f02dd6a.html, archive-date= March 30, 2023 {{cite news , last1=Glover , first1=Scott , last2=Devine , first2=Curt , title=A device that can turn a semi-automatic weapon into a machine gun in moments is wreaking havoc on American streets , url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/30/us/automatic-machine-gun-fire-invs/index.html , access-date=29 December 2022 , publisher=Cable News Network (CNN) , date=30 August 2022, archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230416034511/https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/30/us/automatic-machine-gun-fire-invs/index.html, archive-date= April 16, 2023 {{cite news , last1=Barned-Smith , first1=St. John , title=More Houston shootings are involving 'Glock switches,' which turn pistols into machine guns , url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/crime/article/More-Houston-shootings-involve-Glock-16945519.php , access-date=29 December 2022 , publisher=Houston Chronicle , date=25 February 2022, archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20221229201857/https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/crime/article/More-Houston-shootings-involve-Glock-16945519.php, archive-date= December 29, 2022 {{cite news , last1=Nestel , first1=M.L. , last2=Miller , first2=Andrea , title=What to know about machine gun laws in the US , url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/machine-gun-laws-us/story?id=50256580 , access-date=29 December 2022 , publisher=ABC News , date=4 October 2017, archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20221229201858/https://abcnews.go.com/US/machine-gun-laws-us/story?id=50256580, archive-date=December 29, 2022 {{cite news , last1=Stephens , first1=Alain , title=Tiny 'Glock Switches' Have Quietly Flooded the US With Deadly Machine Guns , url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/glock-switches-auto-sears/ , access-date=29 December 2022 , publisher=Vice Media Group , date=24 March 2022, url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230515105427/https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkp8p8/glock-switches-auto-sears, archive-date= May 15, 2023

External links

Video More 'Glock Switches' confiscated in TennesseeVideo Penny-sized 'Glock switch' turns handgun into automatic weapon
Firearm actions Gun politics in the United States Firearm components