Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez says his office is seeing a surge in tiny, illegal conversion devices that can turn an ordinary handgun into something that behaves like a machine gun in seconds. In a new demonstration video, the DA's office shows a side-by-side comparison of a standard pistol and a weapon fitted with a so-called "Glock switch," and Vasquez calls the difference in speed and control both dramatic and unpredictable. Investigators are finding the parts at crime scenes across the county and, increasingly, in cases involving juveniles.
According to KXL, Vasquez's team says the devices can be snapped onto a handgun in just seconds and, when paired with extended or drum magazines, can let a shooter fire anywhere from 30 to 100 rounds in a brief burst. The DA told the station that what once lived mostly on the dark web has now shown up in mainstream posts on Instagram and Facebook over the last six months.
How the devices work and why they're dangerous
Law enforcement calls the parts auto sears or machine gun conversion devices. These small components change a pistol's internal mechanics so that one pull of the trigger produces continuous automatic fire, according to the ATF. The Justice Department and federal partners have launched joint enforcement efforts to seize the parts and prosecute people who sell or manufacture them, including those who 3D print the devices.
Gun violence prevention advocates say that cheap production methods and social media have pushed the switches beyond traditional criminal networks and into wider circulation, raising the stakes nationally, according to the Giffords Law Center.
Local enforcement and new state rules
Oregon lawmakers moved last year to ban "rapid-fire activators," language meant to include Glock switches and similar conversion hardware, and prosecutors say that statute now applies to the parts turning up in local cases. A June 2025 press release from Oregon House Democrats notes that Oregon House Democrats highlighted how SB 243 prohibits the sale and possession of rapid-fire activators. Legislative records also show that a 2026 proposal, HB 4096, was filed at the request of Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez.
Local prosecutors say that, taken together, state and federal laws give investigators several avenues to go after people who sell the switches and to bring charges when the parts turn up in investigations.
Legal consequences
Under federal law, unregistered conversion devices are treated as machine guns, and possessing or trafficking them can bring serious penalties, including possible prison time and fines, as national cases have shown. The AP reported that officials in some areas have already confiscated dozens of switches, and federal prosecutors say they plan to keep targeting sellers and traffickers in an effort to slow the flow of parts into communities.
Vasquez says his office will keep releasing demonstration videos and working with local and federal partners to track sellers, seize conversion devices when they surface, and fold those findings into criminal cases. Prosecutors and prevention groups argue that the tiny add-ons have changed the basic risk calculation on the street: a handgun that looks ordinary at a glance can, with a small hidden part, fire like a fully automatic weapon.
