• theyoyomaster@lemmy.worldOP
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    1 year ago

    I mean, they really aren’t used in crime in any appreciable way. Criminals just modify/use real machine guns. The law in question doesn’t even apply to felons, only legal gun owners can be charged with it.

    • SheeEttin@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      That’s not exactly true. There are quite a few Glocks with illegally-installed full-auto switches, making them illegal machine guns. Those are definitely used in crime, mostly gang violence I think, at least based on the news reports of seizures I’ve seen.

      • theyoyomaster@lemmy.worldOP
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        1 year ago

        That is exaxtly what I was referring to. FRTs aren’t what are turning up at crime scenes. When you’re committing murder, the majority of which is gang related, you don’t bother with expensive work around; you just put a switch in your Glock and call it a day. It also helps that felons and minors can’t be charged with a crime under the NFA for possession of a machine gun like a switched Glock.

        I’m not going to say that they have never been used in a crime because nothing is absolute, but they are definitely a niche and rare even outside the context of crimes. I would be very surprised if there has actually been a case of “a 5 year old” getting murdered with one like the other guy suggested. I feel like it’s both extremely unlikely statistically and something that would have generated massive media coverage.