Full-auto switches are something that was banned before it was ever developed. There seem to be a few transferable switches out there somehow–I don’t understand it, and I don’t care to dig into it–but for the most part, they’ve never been legal at the federal level.

Yet, the supposed legality of some guns prior to bans is often cited as the reason bad people get guns.

However, bad guys get these things all the time.

And a raid in Alabama illustrates how and why it happens.

Federal prosecutors say five men face charges after the largest single seizure of machine gun conversion devices in the Middle District of Alabama.

Acting U.S. Attorney Kevin Davidson said four of the men face federal charges, while the fifth faces state charges.

Machine gun conversion devices are small and illegally convert semi-automatic guns into fully automatic weapons. These devices are classified as machine guns under federal law, even if not installed on a gun.

Davidson said a federal grand jury has indicted 22-year-old Maceo Levar Edwards and 22-year-old Elliott Arjuna Turner, both of Montgomery, charging them with the illegal possession of 53 machine gun conversion devices and the unlawful transfer of a federally regulated firearm.

According to the indictment and other court records, the charges stem from an April 3, 2025, operation during which Edwards and Turner were allegedly found with the illegal devices after leaving a home in Montgomery.

Now, it’s probably safe to say these weren’t for personal use. I mean, I suppose they could have 53 firearms they wanted to convert to full-auto for range fun, but it’s probably not likely.

I happen to think that these should be perfectly legal. I think I should be able to order them on Amazon and have them shipped straight to my door with next-day shipping.

Unfortunately, the feds disagree. They think they’re too dangerous because criminals do bad things with them.

However, as these charges illustrate, the criminals are still getting them. They’re getting these things, selling these things, and using these things.

All the law does is put law-abiding folks at a tactical disadvantage. They can’t meet the criminals on anything akin to equal footing. Should a group of gang-bangers decide to open fire with these things, I can’t pull the trigger on my Glock 19 fast enough to match them. I’m not huge on the idea of using full-auto in defensive situations as a general thing, but that should be my decision, not the government’s.

Especially when the laws aren’t keeping the bad people from having it.

This is par for the course with gun control, though. This is what we see time and time again. Criminals, by definition, do not obey the law. I mean, it’s kind of part of the job description, right? “Law-abiding criminal” is as much of an oxymoron as “military intelligence” or “Atlanta Falcons Super Bowl win.”

They’re not following the law. Even some of the strictest gun control laws in the world can’t stop criminals.

This massive seizure of full-auto switches, which doesn’t seem all that massive to me, won’t stop much of anything.