A shoplifting arrest involving Glendale police took a dramatic turn when officers discovered the suspect was carrying a Glock pistol modified to fire fully automatically and a 50-round-capacity drum magazine.
CBS News Colorado reported that Glendale police arrested the suspect on shoplifting-related allegations before discovering the weapon. The drum magazine alone represents a significant legal problem under state law: Colorado Revised Statutes § 18-12-302, enacted in 2013, makes it a Class 2 misdemeanor to sell, transfer, or possess an ammunition feeding device capable of holding more than 15 rounds, according to the statute. A 50-round drum blows well past that threshold.
What elevates the case beyond a state misdemeanor, though, is the apparent modification to the handgun itself. Devices commonly known as Glock switches convert semi-automatic pistols into weapons capable of fully automatic fire, and federal law treats such a conversion device as a machinegun in its own right, carrying penalties of up to 10 years in prison for unauthorized possession, per Federal Crimes Lawyers.
How Fast a Modified Glock Can Fire
The danger posed by these conversions comes down to sheer rate of fire. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has found that installing a machinegun conversion switch on a semi-automatic Glock pistol allows it to fire at a rate of 1,100 to 1,200 rounds per minute, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. That kind of output turns a standard handgun into something closer to a machine gun, which is precisely how federal statute defines it…