EL PASO, Texas ( KTSM ) — U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas Jaime Esparza and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Special Agent Justin Demaree are joining forces to tackle the rising problem of illegal machine gun conversion devices in El Paso.
Officials say this issue is not only impacting major cities like Dallas and Houston but is also spreading to other communities, including El Paso.
Esparza and Demaree held a press conference Tuesday, Sept. 17 at the El Paso Community College Law Enforcement Academy to announce a joint effort aimed at addressing the increasing use of these devices, which convert semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic weapons.
Demaree emphasized the growing threat posed by these devices.
“And I can tell you that the proliferation of these machine gun conversion devices or switches is one of the largest threats to public safety that I’ve seen throughout my career,” Demaree said.
ATF seizes grenade launcher, ‘machine-gun pistols’ in Laredo