In the last several years, a proliferation of tiny pieces of plastic and metal is fueling a spike in semi-automatic handguns converted to fully automatic fire.

Communities around the U.S. have seen shootings carried out with weapons converted to fully automatic in recent years, fueled by a staggering increase in small pieces of metal or plastic made with a 3D printer or ordered online. Laws against machine guns date back to the bloody violence of Prohibition-era gangsters. But the proliferation of devices known by nicknames such as Glock switches, auto sears and chips has allowed people to transform legal semi-automatic weapons into even more dangerous guns, helping fuel gun violence, police and federal authorities said.

The (ATF) reported a 570% increase in the number of conversion devices collected by police departments between 2017 and 2021, the most recent data available.

The devices that can convert legal semi-automatic weapons can be made on a 3D printer in about 35 minutes or ordered from overseas online for less than $30. They’re also quick to install.

“It takes two or three seconds to put in some of these devices into a firearm to make that firearm into a machine gun instantly,” Dettelbach said.

  • Dark ArcAEnglish
    1•3 months ago

    UK knife crime per capita is lower than that of US knife crime and US has gun crime on top of that.

    Depends who you ask and comparisons like these are almost definitely flawed by how different countries do reporting.

    e.g. this site says the UK has slightly more knife deaths than the US https://wisevoter.com/country-rankings/stabbing-deaths-by-country/#united-states-of-america

    Then you’ve also got to consider differences in treatment. Are there more stabbings but less deaths because they’re treated better in the US? Conversely, maybe the problem is even worse in the UK but because of their health care system they’re treated better resulting in fewer deaths.

    Then we also need to consider repeat offenders and rehabilitation. Is the knife crime higher in the UK but repeat offenders are lower because of treatment?

    There is no evidence that overall rates stay the same if gun violence gets reduced, but there is evidence that reductions in gun crime also reduce other types of violence.

    Anyways, point being, this is the exact kind of statement that requires pointing out correlation does not equate to causation. In fact, this could be further evidence that guns are not the problem.

    As for your source… These are the primary conclusions of the authors (direct quote):

    In a comprehensive review of firearm-control legislation worldwide, we identified a range of studies examining the as- sociation between firearm-related laws and firearm deaths. Three general observations emerge from this analysis:

    1. The simultaneous implementation of laws targeting multi- ple elements of firearms regulations reduced firearm-related deaths in certain countries; 2) some specific restrictions on purchase, access, and use of firearms are associated with re- ductions in firearm deaths; 3) challenges in ecological design and the execution of studies limit the confidence in study findings and the conclusions that can be derived from them.

    I didn’t read the whole thing but … If you’ve got a specific page, paragraph, etc on the whole correlation thing, I’d be willing to hear you out.