NATIONAL NEWS

Federal agents, prosecutors going after machine-gun conversion devices in Tennessee

May 22, 2023, 3:59 PM

Kevin Ritz, the U.S. attorney in West Tennessee, speaks during a news conference, Monday, May 22, 2...

Kevin Ritz, the U.S. attorney in West Tennessee, speaks during a news conference, Monday, May 22, 2023, in Memphis, Tenn., about a crackdown on devices that turn semiautomatic firearms into machine guns. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(AP Photo/Adrian Sainz)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Twenty-six people in Tennessee have been recently convicted or face charges for possessing “switches,” devices that convert semi-automatic firearms into a machine guns, which can be made with 3-D printers and bought on the internet, federal law enforcement officials said during a news conference Monday.

Federal investigators and local law enforcement officers in Memphis and Jackson have been trying to slow down the proliferation of switches as they work to stem a growing wave of gun violence, said Kevin Ritz, the U.S. attorney for the federal district in West Tennessee.

A Memphis native who was nominated by President Joe Biden and sworn in last September, Ritz said communities “are reeling from gun violence” — a problem worsened by the increased number of switches found in the region.

“Switches are illegal and highly dangerous devices that convert semiautomatic firearms into machine guns,” Ritz said. “These devices threaten public safety and make the gun violence problem even worse.”

Seven of the 15 people who have been convicted of machine gun possession or other firearms-related crime have already received prison sentences of up to 8 1/2 years. Nine others have been charged with offenses related to switches, which make guns much harder to control when fired, prosecutors said.

In one case, a man was sentenced in March to more than two years in prison of selling four switches to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents and preparing to sell them 20 more. In another, a convicted felon was sentenced in December to more than eight years in prison for selling a short-barreled rifle and getting caught with a Glock pistol equipped with an extended magazine and a machine-gun conversion device.

The devices are inexpensive and can be bought on the internet, said Marcus Watson, special agent in charge for the Nashville field division of the ATF.

Ritz said the devices can come from other countries such as Russia or China, and they can be made on 3-D printers.

“Machine guns have no place in the general public,” Watson said.

Many of the arrests came in Memphis, where violent crimes that typically involve guns such as murders and aggravated assaults increased in the first three months of this year by 7 percent, compared with the same time period in 2022, according to statistics released by the Memphis Shelby County Crime Commission.

Authorities reported 81 murders in Memphis from January to March, up from 60 murders in the first quarter of 2022, the commission reported.

Some Memphis shootings have received national attention, such as the police officer inside a library in February.

Discussions about gun violence have ramped up this year in Tennessee, where calls for reform stemming from high-profile shootings have contrasted with laws such as one that allows people to carry a handgun without a permit.

The GOP-led Tennessee General Assembly plans to start a special session Aug. 21 to discuss gun-related legislation after lawmakers did not take on gun control during the regular session that ended April 21. Efforts at gun reform gained in volume after three children and three adults were fatally shot at The Covenant School in Nashville in March.

Republican Gov. Bill Lee announced the special session earlier this month. However, it’s not clear what parameters the governor will set for what can be considered during the session, or what changes lawmakers would be willing to discuss.

During the regular session, Lee pushed for legislation that would keep firearms away from people who could harm themselves or others.

While federal prosecutors and law enforcement don’t make laws and only enforce them, they do “track carefully developments in state law and federal law concerning firearms,” Ritz said.

“Sometimes those developments make it harder to us to keep the public safe,” Ritz said. “But, what I will say is, as long as federal prosecutors have tools to tackle the gun violence problem, we will use those tools often and aggressively.”

National News

Associated Press

Georgia joins states seeking parental permission before children join social media

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia could join other states in requiring children younger than 16 to have their parents’ explicit permission to create social media accounts. Lawmakers on Friday gave final approval to Senate Bill 351, which also would ban social media use on school devices and internet services, require porn sites to verify users are […]

5 hours ago

Associated Press

Cranes arriving to start removing wreckage from deadly Baltimore bridge collapse

BALTIMORE (AP) — The largest crane on the Eastern Seaboard was being transported to Baltimore so crews on Friday can begin removing the wreckage of a collapsed highway bridge that has halted a search for four workers still missing days after the disaster and blocked the city’s vital port from operating. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore […]

6 hours ago

Associated Press

Georgia House approves new election rules that could impact 2024 presidential contest

ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia House of Representatives on Thursday approved new rules for challenging voters and qualifying for the state’s presidential ballot that could impact the 2024 presidential race in the battleground state. The House passed Senate Bill 189 by a vote of 101 to 73. It now goes to the state Senate for […]

7 hours ago

Associated Press

Ex-Caltrain employee and contractor charged with building secret homes with public funds

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A former employee of Caltrain, a mass transit system that connects Silicon Valley with San Francisco, and a former contractor for the transit agency allegedly used public funds to build two small apartments for themselves inside two train stations, authorities said Thursday. San Mateo County prosecutors charged Joseph Vincent Navarro, a […]

8 hours ago

Associated Press

Oregon city can’t limit church’s homeless meal services, federal judge rules

BROOKINGS, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that a southern Oregon city can’t limit a local church’s homeless meal services. U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Clarke found that an ordinance passed by the small city of Brookings, on the southern Oregon coast, violated the religious freedom rights of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, KGW reported. […]

8 hours ago

Associated Press

Baltimore bridge collapse puts the highly specialized role of ship’s pilot under the spotlight

The expert pilots who navigate massive ships in and out of Baltimore’s port must often maneuver with just 2 feet (0.6 meter) of clearance from the channel floor and memorize charts, currents and every other possible maritime variable. The highly specialized role — in which a pilot temporarily takes control of a ship from its […]

10 hours ago

Federal agents, prosecutors going after machine-gun conversion devices in Tennessee