New Federal Strategy Targets Illegal 'Machinegun Conversion Devices,' Requires Local Police Training

The Preventing Illegal Weapons Trafficking Act of 2025 is laser-focused on one thing: stopping the flow of illegal parts designed to turn regular firearms into fully automatic weapons. If you’ve heard of 'Glock switches' or 'auto sears,' this bill is about shutting down the supply chain for those devices.

The bill starts by clearly defining a 'Machinegun Conversion Device' as any part or set of parts designed only to convert a standard weapon into a machinegun. This isn't about regulating legal parts that might be misused; it’s targeting components whose sole purpose is illegal modification (Sec. 2). This clarity is key, as it keeps the focus on the trafficking of specialized, illicit parts rather than broader firearm components.

The 120-Day Interception Plan: Federal Agencies Get Coordinated

The biggest change here is the mandate for a unified federal strategy. Within 120 days of the bill becoming law, the Attorney General (Justice), the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Secretary of the Treasury must launch a coordinated plan (Sec. 3). Think of this as a major policy alignment meeting where the ATF, FBI, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) all have to get on the same page.

This strategy is designed to boost detection and tracing. For someone working at a port of entry, this means new tools and training to spot these tiny, easily concealable parts being smuggled in. For local police, this is a big deal: the strategy requires federal agencies to create training programs to help state and local officers learn how to identify these conversion devices on the street (Sec. 3).

Crucially, the plan also directly addresses domestic production, specifically calling for enhanced capabilities to find and seize devices made within the U.S., including those manufactured using 3D printing technology (Sec. 3). This acknowledges how technology has changed the game, moving the production of illegal components from centralized factories to decentralized home operations.

Hitting Traffickers Where It Hurts: The Wallet

Beyond enforcement, the bill strengthens the financial penalties for illegal trafficking. It amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow the government to seize, or forfeit, any money or profits derived from the illegal sale or movement of machine guns (Sec. 4). If a criminal organization makes a profit selling these illegal conversion devices, the government can now directly target those assets. This is a common tactic in drug and organized crime cases, and applying it here aims to disrupt the business model of weapons traffickers.

Tracking the Data: What’s Being Used and Where It Came From

Finally, the bill mandates better data collection. The Attorney General is already required to submit an annual firearms trafficking report, but this act requires that report to now include specific details about machinegun conversion devices (Sec. 5). Specifically, the report must track:

1. The total number of crimes where these conversion devices were actually used.
2. Whether the recovered devices were made domestically or came from a foreign country.

For policy analysts and law enforcement, this data is invaluable. It moves the conversation past anecdotes and provides concrete metrics on the scope of the problem—is this primarily an import issue, or is the domestic 3D printing threat the bigger concern? This required reporting ensures that future strategies will be based on facts, not just assumptions.

Overall, the Preventing Illegal Weapons Trafficking Act is a focused effort to close a specific, dangerous loophole in weapons trafficking, primarily by improving interagency coordination, leveraging asset forfeiture laws, and modernizing data collection to account for new manufacturing methods.