Popular devices known as 'switches' are turning ordinary pistols into fully automatic weapons, making them deadlier and a growing threat to bystanders. Makeshift machine guns can inflict carnage in seconds:
Takeila Peebles, whose 14-year-old son, Caison Robinson, survived five gunshot wounds, at home in Las Vegas, July 29, 2023.
These makeshift machine guns — able to inflict indiscriminate carnage in seconds — are helping fuel the national epidemic of gun violence, making shootings increasingly lethal, creating added risks for bystanders and leaving survivors more grievously wounded, according to law enforcement authorities and medical workers.
Homicides in Kansas City are approaching record highs this year, even as the number of nonfatal shootings in the city has decreased. Switches have become a major priority for federal law enforcement officials. But investigators say they face formidable obstacles, including the sheer number in circulation and the ease with which they can be produced and installed at home, using readily available instruction videos on the internet. Many are sold and owned by people younger than 18, who generally face more lenient treatment in the courts.
Dr. James Miner, the chair of emergency medicine at Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis, which has the largest trauma center in Minnesota, said he first heard about switches in 2020 when he was trying to make sense of why gunshot victims were arriving at the hospital with numerous wounds and why more people seemed to be reporting being shot by stray bullets.
In 2019, federal agents began seizing a significant number of switches imported from China, said Thomas Chittum, a former associate deputy director at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who now oversees analytics and forensic services at SoundThinking. Switches are fast becoming embedded in youth culture, and have been the subject of rap songs and memes on social media. One of four teenagers accused in the killing of an off-duty Chicago police officer this year posted on the internet a song called “Switches,” rapping “shoot the switches, they so fast” as he showed an arsenal of weapons.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
A's broadcaster rips team's owner, calls impending move to Las Vegas 'not professional'Amaury Pi-Gonzalez, the Oakland Athletics' Spanish-language radio broadcaster, ripped the team's owner and the franchise's impending move to Vegas.
Read more »
Insomniac announces Forever Midnight New Year’s Eve festivals in Los Angeles and Las VegasTickets for both shows go on sale at noon on Tuesday, Aug. 15.
Read more »
Bed bugs found at several Las Vegas hotels: reportAt least seven major Vegas hotels and resorts have dealt with beg bugs over the past year and a half, according to a review of state health records by KLAS/Fox40.
Read more »
Organizer Says F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, 'Will Be the Biggest Event in the World in 2023'Las Vegas to host Formula 1 and the Super Bowl within three months time.
Read more »
Going to Karol G’s Mañana Sera Bonito Stadium Tour? Here’s the Full SetlistLa Bichota sang nearly 30 hits during her opening show in Las Vegas on Aug. 10.
Read more »