So....what is a GLOCK switch and why should I care about them?

In the South, we call sugary carbonated beverages "Cokes" or if you're REALLY cultured, "CoCola."
We call adhesive bandages, Band-Aids and cotton-tipped applicators "Q-Tips."

EVERYBODY calls boxy, polymer framed, semi-automatic handguns....a Glock.
Owing to patents expiring, a "Glock Action" pistol can be made and sold, at a profit, for less than $200.
They're drop-safe, million-round reliable, and like the Model-T most of the parts among them are interswappable.
Unlike Model-Ts they can be had in a rainbow of colors other than the original black.
Pinks and Purples are very VERY popular these days for reasons that should be very apparent.

So.....
HOW do you actually TEST a gun that's "million round reliable?"
Easy!
You remove the base plate on the rear of the slide and you install a different kind of plate that allows (forces, actually) the weapon into a fully automatic firing mode - at something like 1200 rounds a minute.
This means that in one day you can force feed a LOT of rounds through the pistol, and you can see what breaks on it under those conditions...when it happens and why.,

Austrian counter terror units found out about this and asked Glock if they could devise a selector switch for the modified plate, and the Glock 18 was born.....and BANNED in the USA because of various laws.
They're really not used by LEOs very much because it's effectively impossible to adequately control a pistol in full-fun mode.
You can see this in action (for now) on the YouTubes, since in the US there's "banned" and there's BANNED.
In some some places in the US, it's possible to rent a Glock-18 on a range and use it under very controlled circumstances, and for a PRICE.

WHAT IS A "GLOCK SWITCH?"
It's simply an unserialized, home brew selector switch based on the Glock 18 bits.
If a "Ghost Gun" is an unserialized homemade firearm, then the Glock Switch is much the same thing.
If you know how 3-D printers work and what kind of files they use, you can make one at home for a few bucks.
Sometimes a Glock Switch isn't really a "switch" at all, but rather it's the original kind of base plate which makes the pistol all fully auto, auto all of the time.
This may or may actually be preferred by certain criminal elements because the weapon would be indistinguishable from a "legal' firearm until it is fired.

Is this legal?
They're illegal to own.
Period.
Full Stop.
Whether or not you have a gun.
ANY gun.
Generally speaking, getting caught with one in very benign circumstances, and with a clean record, and a plea deal, MIGHT allow you to skip jail time but you WILL be a convicted felon for the rest of your life and then only after successfully completing a lengthy probation period.
Yes.
Even in California.

Of course, if you're in possession of certain illegal chemicals, a butt-ton of cash, and associate with OTHER people who do not care about breaking the law, then you "might" not care about all of that.

OK.
Why SHOULD I CARE??
See sentence #1.

These days MOST guns that are sold are polymer-framed, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols.
In other words?
They're all Glocks. (Glock action pistols.)

Statistically, if you're reading this then there's at least a 50-percent chance that you hate all kinds of guns, which is fine. Do so from the standpoint of KNOWING something about them.

OTOH, if you're one of the millions of people that are new gun owners, just be aware that gun ownership in the US is a right that comes with MUCH responsibility.
One of those is knowing the law.

"Glock switches" have been around since the 80s.
Media stories about them are relatively new.
I'll let the reader determine for themselves if this firefly is about the switch.....or the Glock.

Be Safe!

From the BATFE:

 

Zaxctly.
It's not about the SWITCH, it's about the Glock.

There's a third flavor...called "burst"
I get 'em confused myself but the military bounces back and forth between full auto and three round burst.
The M16A1 and A3 were "full-fun" equipped. (My issue weapon was an A3)
The A2, A4 are burst-only.
To make things more confusing, the newer M4 was 'burst' and the M4A1 and M5's went BACK to full auto.

That's an opinion shared by many, and absenting places like Ukraine, Afghanistan, VeetNam, and maybe in a few weeks, Brazil....I would concur.
Amendment #2 isn't a hunting permit, and "military grade weapons" like the kind EVERY successful revolution and COUNTER INSURGENCY uses are specifically stated as the intended purpose.
Everybody's favorite SCOTUS case, Miller was actually decided because the illegal weapon then under discussion was a short barreled shotgun....oh, and because Miller had lawyers that were even more incompetent than P45 does.

I'm happy with a de-facto ruling that the Glock Switch (or plate) is a "destructive device" seizable by everybody's favorite bureau.
P45 had the stones to rule that bump stocks were thusly illegal BECAUSE they were NOT military grade.

Seems to me that somebody ought to loop his successor into doing the same thing, but the intended purpose of the "new" stories isn't about the switch.

 

Dup'd post.

 

Yep.

We gone done broke the interwebs

 

right tool for the job.....

 

I carry a 365 myself for smaller and meaner predators.

Sig dodged the whole "frames and receivers" drama by stamping the serial number on what they call the 'fire control group' which seems to be much more in keeping with the original intent of the NFA's definition of what a "gun" is.


I'll let the constant reader imagine whether and how this "gun" can be made "fully fun" but if a 9mm pistol is hard to control while spitting out 1200 boolits in a minute, then the 1cm cartridge, roughly equal to a 41 Magnum, would be MORE than a handful!!

Personally?
I prefer to make a lot of noise and give Yogi a chance to go elsewhere, but yeah.....an adult-sized sidearm makes for a pretty good insurance policy!