BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – Homemade machines are turning semi-automatic weapons into machine guns and police in Louisiana say those modifications are becoming more popular.
The Glock switch or auto sear are home devices that can turn a semi-automatic pistol into a killing machine.
“They can fire eleven to twelve hundred rounds per minute,” said the Special Assistant to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Marlin Ford.
“When you put your hand on the trigger and you can see it go until you stop,” said East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore.
Ford says there has been a big increase in these machines in Louisiana.
“We’ve seen a lot of shootings in Baton Rouge and New Orleans,” Ford said.
“I’d say about 80 in the last year or two,” Moore said in recalling the number of arrests he’s seen related to these devices. “And most of the time, I think ten or more are held by young children.”
If caught with these crimes, you could spend up to 10 years in federal prison. But Moore said, most cases do not make it to federal court.
“Because the federal government does not do all the cases. We get a lot of gun cases, they pick and choose which gun cases they want,” Moore said.
According to Moore, Louisiana’s gun laws are inconsistent with national standards and inconsistent with state law. He’s proposing a law that would make it a ten-year prison sentence if someone switches their weapons.
“I don’t see any legitimate reason why anyone would want one of these devices on their weapon, on their weapon other than to do harm and destroy and kill somebody,” Moore said. .
He said that anyone charged with these firearms enhancements will also be prohibited from possessing a firearm upon release.
“Anti-gun sentiment has nothing to do with safety from these weapons and the amount we’re seeing here,” Moore said.
Moore said he is looking for a legislature to write the law and plans to present this proposal to the council when it returns to the council in April.