Murders committed with handguns patterned after the extremely successful Glock line of pistols, equipped with “Glock switches”, are extremely rare, according to research done by the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC). The research was published on May 27, 2026.
No database of cases where “Glock switches” are used to murder people is maintained by the federal government. The CPRC did what they characterize as “an exhaustive search” for incidents where such a “Glock switch” was used to murder people, from 2021 through most of May, 2026. They found 20 incidents where 43 people were killed over the more than five years studied.
Every murder is a tragedy. However, the number of murders committed with “Glock switches” is a tiny blip in the overall number of murders in the USA, over the five years examined by the CPRC.
The CPRC carefully and correctly states they may have missed some murders committed with “Glock switches”. It is the nature of crime that some go undetected. It is the nature of the media that some events are not reported in a way that is easily found. The demonization of these devices works to ensure most known events are reported.
Handguns do not make good automatic weapons. They are more difficult to master than rifles or shotguns, even when one shot is fired for every trigger pull. They are much more difficult to control on full auto, especially a full auto with a high cyclic rate of fire. With practice, expert users can use them effectively. Machine pistols, as they are called, have not been a popular item with military services because of these limitations.
“Glock switches” take an excellent handgun design and transform it into a bad machine pistol. As noted by the CPRC, the “Glock switches” are dangerous to the user and to everyone near the user, including the user’s allies and confederates.
“Glock switches” override the handgun’s disconnector, allowing the handgun to fire before it is fully locked. The difficulty of controlling a handgun in full auto, with an extreme cyclic rate, makes the danger of shooting in a direction that is not desired a real possibility. This may be a reason the “Glock switches” are not used more commonly.
CRPC notes that the total number of murders committed from 2021 to 2024 is about 80,657 murders in the USA, according to the FBI. The numbers for 2025 have not been officially released. Of those from 2021-2024, we know 29 were committed with modified firearms using machinegun conversion devices. It is impossible to know if more or fewer murders would have been committed without the “Glock switches” being used. It is plausible, perhaps likely, that the use of the switches prevented some murders because of the difficulty and danger of use, and the inherent lack of accuracy with such devices. If the first shot is on target, it is likely that the second and following shots are not on target. The homicide rate in the USA has been falling since 2021. The murder rate in the USA is at an historic low, probably the lowest ever recorded in the USA.
As mentioned in the CPRC article, these devices are mostly used by criminal gangs. Most of the murders appear to be during gang wars. “Glock switches” are already illegal to produce or own for nearly all people in the United States. Only licensed machine gun manufacturers, law enforcement, and the military have the ability to legally possess them.
The focus on “Glock switches” is another attempt at creating a crisis where none exists. The purpose appears to be to pass legislation to make items that are already illegal to own, double or triple illegal. The desired effect seems to be to ban ordinary Glock pistols.
Glock-type pistols may be the most popular pistol in American society, perhaps in the world.
Those who wish to disarm the population have never been concerned with logic, facts, or cost-benefit ratios. Most people still value logic, facts, and cost-benefit ratios.
The CPRC article sheds light on a subject primarily shrouded in myth and emotion. It is likely the emotion-based laws against Glock pistols will run into difficulties as they are challenged in the courts. Commonly owned firearms, which are used for legal purposes, are protected by the Second Amendment.
Glock pistols are common, and they are overwhelmingly used for legal purposes.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
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