Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala warns glock switches turn handguns into machine guns
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Getting dangerous, modified guns off the streets is the new goal of law enforcement in the Pittsburgh area.
They say criminals are turning handguns into dangerous weapons using glock switches.
"We hope to deter future conduct. So if everybody understands or the public understands what these weapons can do or how dangerous they are, hopefully, we can keep people from engaging in the practice of using this type of device," Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala said.
Since the end of September, Zappala says investigators tracked seven additional cases where police officers came across fully automatic machine guns.
He invited reporters out to the Allegheny County gun range to see and hear what our police officers are up against at recent crime scenes.
Zappala says officers arrive with something similar to a Glock pistol, but they're entering firefights against modified guns with extended clips firing 20 rounds per second. The officers at the range demonstrated the difference in firing power between the two weapons.
Zappala hopes if the public can see and hear the difference they will then understand the renewed push to get these weapons off the streets.