The Biden administration is turning a blind eye to imports of Chinese-made devices that turn pistols into submachine guns, according to a new book, as Beijing deliberately seeks to sow chaos in American streets.
The police are already warning of an increase in the number of ‘auto sear switches’ or ‘Glock switches’, modifications that turn pistols into fully automatic weapons.
Bestselling author Peter Schweizer argues that Chinese authorities are complicit in supplying cheap, illegal devices to American criminals, following a playbook developed using the deadly drug fentanyl.
And he says US lawmakers are more interested in targeting gun owners at home than tackling the illegal trade from abroad.
“Just as with the fentanyl trade, when it comes to the illegal trade in weapons and parts, the Chinese government appears to be complicit,” he writes in “Blood Money: Why the Powerful Turn a Blind Eye While China Kills Americans‘, which will be published on Tuesday.
Switching devices are small and inexpensive, and allow pistols to fire continuously with a single pull of the trigger. Many are produced in China, although they can also be made on 3D printers
Roy Johnson, 35, received 38 years in prison after spraying 30 bullets from a Glock Model 17, killing Paul Kutz in the heart, lungs and liver
‘The Chinese authorities appear to have made little effort to stop online sales. They also appear unmotivated to put an end to the deceptive manufacturing and distribution practices used to evade US authorities.”
The use of these devices is on the rise, nearly a hundred years after Congress passed a law intended to keep automatic weapons out of the hands of criminals.
They are small, only about the size of a quarter piece, and mount easily to Glock pistols. (Similar devices are available for other brands, but are less common.)
They allow pistols to fire continuously with a single pull of the trigger.
They cost about $50 and are easily available. They can be purchased on websites and imported or increasingly manufactured domestically on a 3D printer.
“These types of switches make an entire class of weapons extremely deadly,” says former ATF agent David Chipman. ‘These are really aimed at criminal and extremist buyers and owners.’
Cases involving the devices are making headlines.
The book details the case of Paul Kutz, a 53-year-old accountant, who was shot when a masked gunman burst into a hotel in Poughkeepsie, New York. Roy Johnson shot 30 bullets from his modified pistol, hitting Kutz in the heart, lungs and liver.
Johnson was sentenced to 58 years in prison.
Author Peter Schweizer argues that Chinese authorities are complicit in supplying cheap, illegal devices to American criminals. ‘Blood Money’
The devices are small and easily fit onto pistols, turning them into submachine guns
They are easy to find online and sell for $50 or less
And Tamara O’Neal was shot dead by her jilted lover in the parking lot of a Chicago hospital where she worked as a doctor.
Juan Lopez fired at least 30 shots, killing 25-year-old pharmacy resident Dayna Less and Chicago police officer Samuel Jimenez, 28, before being shot dead.
Far from being a side effect of China’s unbridled growth and manufacturing prowess, the export of lethal devices is part of a deliberate strategy, Schweizer writes.
The idea is modeled on what Chinese propagandists call “the century of humiliation,” when the West tried to weaken the country by supporting different factions and arming warring factions.
“In the same way it reversed the Opium Wars of the nineteenth century and created the Fentanyl Wars of the twenty-first century, Beijing is now working to create a Century of Humiliation and weaken the United States by fomenting division through weapon-enhancing technologies. feed. end up in the hands of criminals and criminal gangs, but also fuel social divisions on the American streets,” Schweizer writes.
Either way, the result is the rapid growth of custom pistols.
“We’re seeing Glock switches being used everywhere,” says East Baton Rouge, Louisiana, District Attorney Hillar Moore, “whether it’s murder, attempted murder, witness intimidation. . . shooting into a neighborhood or shooting up houses.’
His office has seen more than 80 cases in the past two years where guns were used to commit crimes.
Juan Lopez, 32, was murdered in 2018 by his ex-fiancée Tamara O’Neal, 38, (pictured together) in the parking lot of Mercy Hospital in Chicago. O’Neal was an ER doctor at the hospital
Schweizer argues that while Biden has warned China of “profound” consequences if its weapons are used by Russia in the war in Ukraine, “one must wonder: Why has Biden never issued such a warning about fentanyl, or about weapons upgrades that are illegal sent to Ukraine’. United States out of China – both killing Americans?”
And the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says the number of seized switches is growing rapidly. It said the 2017-2021 period saw a 570 percent increase over the previous five years.
Importing is illegal.
But Chinese companies routinely disguise the contents of the packages, labeling “multi-tool switches” or “handmade finished pieces” on the packaging.
So far, US lawmakers have failed to wake up to the threat posed by China, Schweizer says.
He cites the example of a 2022 Senate bill that required stricter measures from the Justice Department on importing the devices, but did not mention China.
And he points out that while President Joe Biden has warned China of “profound” consequences if its weapons are used by Russia in the war in Ukraine, “one must wonder: Why has Biden never issued such a warning about fentanyl, or about illegal weapon improvements’. shipped from China to the United States – killing both Americans?”