China is deliberately allowing the export of deadly devices that turn handguns into machine pistols as it seeks to destabilize the US with street warfare, says explosive new book

• China ‘foments division by putting weapon-enhancing’ devices on the streets 
• That is the conclusion of Peter Schweizer’s new book ‘Blood Money’ 
• Law enforcement agencies are reporting a surge in ‘auto sear’ or ‘Glock switches’

The Biden administration is turning a blind eye to the import of Chinese-made devices that turn handguns into machine pistols, according to a new book, as Beijing deliberately tries to sow chaos on American streets.

Police are already warning of a surge in ‘auto sear switches’ or ‘Glock switches,’ modifications that transform handguns into fully automatic weapons.

Bestselling author Peter Schweizer argues that Chinese authorities are complicit in the supply of the cheap, illegal devices to American criminals, following a playbook developed with the deadly drug fentanyl.

And he says lawmakers in the U.S. are more interested in targeting gun owners at home than tackling the illegal trade from overseas.

‘As with the fentanyl trade, when it comes to the illegal weapons and parts trade, the Chinese government appears complicit,’ he writes in ‘Blood Money: Why the Powerful Turn a Blind Eye While China Kills Americans,’ which is published Tuesday.

Switch devices are small and cheap, and allow handguns to fire continuously with a single squeeze of the trigger. Many are produced in China, although they can be made on 3D printers

Roy Johnson, 35, is accused of firing 30 rounds of a loaded, operable Glock Model 17, with a stray bullet striking Paul Kutz in the heart, lungs and liver

Kutz, 53, was caught in the mayhem of the shootout at the hotel. One shot broke Kutz’s ribs while he was getting coffee during Family Day at Marist College, where his son attends school

‘Chinese authorities appear to have made little effort to stop online sales. They also seem unmotivated to stop the deceptive production and distribution practices that are used to evade US authorities.’

Use of the devices is on the rise almost 100 years after Congress passed a law designed to keep automatic weapons out of the hands of criminals.

They are small, only about the size of a quarter piece, and can be easily fitted to Glock handguns. (Similar devices are available for other makes, but are less common.)

They allow pistols to fire continuous on a single pull of the trigger.

They cost about $50, and are easily available. They can be bought on websites and imported or increasingly manufactured domestically on a 3D-printer.

‘These kind of switches make a whole class of weapons particularly lethal,’ said former ATF agent David Chipman. ‘These are really catered to criminal and extremist buyers and owners.’

Cases involving the devices are making headlines.

The book describes the case of Paul Kutz, a 53-year-old accountant, who was shot when a masked gunman burst into a hotel in Poughkeepsie, New York. Roy Johnson sprayed 30 bullets from his modified handgun, striking Kutz in the heart, lungs and liver.

Johnson was sentenced to 58 years in prison.

Author Peter Schweizer argues that Chinese authorities are complicit in the supply of the cheap, illegal devices to American criminals. ‘Blood Money’

The devices are tiny and slot easily on to handguns turning them into machine pistols

They are easy to find online and sell for $50 or less

And Tamara O’Neal, was shot dead by her jilted lover in the parking lot of a Chicago hospital where she worked as a doctor.

Juan Lopez fired at least 30 shots, killing 25-year-old pharmacy resident Dayna Less and Chicago police officer Samuel Jimenez, 28, before being shot dead.

Far from being a side-effect of China’s rampant growth and manufacturing strength, the export of deadly devices is part of a deliberate strategy, writes Schweizer.

The idea is modeled on what Chinese propagandists call ‘the Century of Humiliation,’ when the West tried to weaken the country by supporting different factions and arming warring parties.

‘In the same way that it flipped the Opium Wars of the nineteenth century and created the Fentanyl Wars of the twenty-first century, Beijing now works to create a Century of Humiliation and weaken the United States by fomenting division by putting weapon-enhancing technologies into the hands of felons and criminal gangs, but also fueling social division on US streets,’ writes Schweizer.

Either way, the result is the rapid growth in modified handguns.

‘We’re seeing Glock switches used all over the place,” said East Baton Rouge, Louisiana, district attorney Hillar Moore, ‘whether it’s murder, attempted murder, witness intimidation . . . shooting up in a neighborhood or shooting up houses.’

His office has seen more than eighty cases in the past two years involving switches on guns used to commit crimes.

Juan Lopez, 32, was murdered by his ex-fiancee Tamara O’Neal, 38, (pictured together) in the parking lot of Mercy Hospital in Chicago in 2018. O’Neal was an ER doctor at the hospital

Schweizer argues that although Biden has warned China of ‘profound’ consequences if its weapons are used by Russia in its war in Ukraine, ‘one must ask: Why has Biden never issued such a warning over fentanyl, or over weapons enhancements illegally shipped into the United States from China—both of which are killing Americans?’

And the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says the number of switches seized is growing rapidly. It said the period 2017-2021 saw a 570 percent increase on the previous five years.

Importation is illegal.

But Chinese companies routinely obscure the contents of the packages, listing ‘multitool switches’ or ‘handcrafted finished pieces’ on packaging.

So far American lawmakers have failed to wake up to the threat emanating from China, says Schweizer.

He cites the example of a 2022 Senate bill that demanded tougher Department of Justice action importation of the devices, but made no mention of China.

And he points that although President Joe Biden has warned China of ‘profound’ consequences if its weapons are used by Russia in its war in Ukraine, ‘one must ask: Why has Biden never issued such a warning over fentanyl, or over weapons enhancements illegally shipped into the United States from China—both of which are killing Americans?’

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