With ‘conversion switch’ devices, machine guns return to U.S. streets

A small square block enables guns to fire continuously, and a similar device can be placed inside rifles such as the AR-15

The earsplitting, heart-stopping roar of fully automatic weapons hasn’t been often heard on America’s streets since Congress largely outlawed them in 1934. But now it’s back, owing to a small device that is easily plugged into certain handguns and rifles, converting semiautomatic firearms into guns capable of firing 20 bullets in one second — with one pull of the trigger.

In Sacramento last year, a handgun converted into a machine gun was used during a gun battle that left six dead, in what has been called Sacramento’s deadliest mass shooting.

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