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Automatic pistol conversion kit raises alarm in Bloomington

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via FLKR

Bloomington Police recently found a new and unwelcome technology wrinkle in firearms. Officers said a man wounded by gunfire also had a device intended to convert a semi-automatic weapon to an automatic, essentially a machine gun.

Police said the 21-year-old man hit by gunfire was trying to destroy the so-called "multi-piece auto sear," or fully automatic switch kit, even as emergency room workers were treating him for non-life threatening injuries. The gunfire happened in the 500 block of North Main Street about 2 a.m. Sunday. The man is being held on $500,000 bond.

BPD spokesperson John Fermon said just having the small device is a felony, let alone using it.

"It's kind of like a zero tolerance policy, especially with these kits because you go from, maybe a shooting where there are two or three shots fired to, potentially a 90-round, five-second gun battle," said Fermon.

Fermon said the kits are potentially more dangerous than illegal bump stocks used on rifles to increase rates of fire by harnessing the energy of the weapon's recoil after firing. He said the increased danger is simply because pistols are more often used in crimes than rifles.

"We don't want more inadvertent bullets flying through our community. That's an issue. And imagine, you've got three or four firearms that now have these that are automatic with a 50-round magazine. That's not going to be good news for the Bloomington-Normal community," said Fermon.

Fermon said the internet is not the city's friend on this issue.

"They can be made anywhere. Different countries make them and anything can be shipped. That's really what the federal government and the ATF are focused on," he said.

Fermon said the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms first began warning of the kits in 2019. And they have been seen elsewhere in Illinois. This week's arrest is the first of its kind in Bloomington-Normal, which is one of the reasons officers try to concentrate on getting illegal guns off the street.

So far this year, Fermon said there have been six gun seizures in Bloomington. That's about the same as last year at this time. He said Bloomington Police seized 57 guns through all of last year.

WGLT Senior Reporter Charlie Schlenker has spent more than three award-winning decades in radio. He lives in Normal with his family.
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