MEMPHIS, Tenn. — It was just a quarter of a century ago when Glock switches were first invented by a man in East Tennessee.
While small, the device can turn a pistol into a fully automatic firearm, allowing a shooter to fire 30 bullets in the span of a few seconds. The tool has since found its way into neighborhoods across the country, including right here in Memphis.
“I mean it’s just a recipe for disaster,” said Ryan Todd, resident agent in charge at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
While initially bulky, Glock switches has since become slimmer and smaller over time, and still carries the same destructive force. Todd tells ABC24 this has made it progressively harder for law enforcement to determine if a firearm is equipped with a Glock switch or not.
“Here in Memphis, we started noticing these in the mid 2000s," Todd said. "ATF initiated a federal investigation in 2017 and 2018…but we’ve seen an uptick since 2021. Roughly throughout the nation I’d say about 500 percent.”
In Memphis, Glock switches, and the massive amount of bullets they leave behind, have been on the rise. The latest numbers from the Memphis Police Department shows officers recover about three of these weapons per week.
In April, Memphis police officer Joseph McKinney lost his life after an incident involving a Glock switch. Around a week later, a Glock switch was used in a mass shooting at a Orange Mound block party that left two dead and another seven injured.
“It seems like they’re trying to make us go backwards when we’re going forward,” said Esther Cook Jones from Guns Down Orange Mound shortly after the April 20 shooting.
Todd tells ABC24 the growing interest around Glock switches has blown up due to their attention on social media, and the growing ability to find one online.
“A lot of individuals are purchasing them on websites overseas," Todd said. "In addition, some individuals have the capability of 3D printing these.”
ABC24 decided to test how fast it would take to find a Glock switch for sale online. All it took was a few seconds and a quick google search to find a long list of options.
This accessibility has led ATF to ramp up online efforts, monitoring social media and additional sites across the internet to track down where Glock switches are coming from, and who is possessing them. However, Todd said this will need to be a community effort and urges anyone with any information about a Glock switch's whereabouts to call ATF's illegal firearms hotline 1-800-283-4867.
Possessing a gun switch is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.