Overview

• A two-month operation led by the ATF’s Crime Gun Intelligence Center alongside federal, state and local partners resulted in the arrests of 41 individuals.
• Authorities seized 171 firearms and 64 machine-gun conversion devices, which attach to semi-automatic pistols to enable fully automatic fire.
• Ballistic data linked many recovered weapons to homicides and aggravated assaults in Chicago and nationwide dating back to 2017.
• Defendants face 18 federal counts for illegal possession and transfer of machine guns and 23 state charges including gunrunning and armed violence.
• Officials warned that consumer-grade 3D printers can produce about 100 conversion devices in 72 hours, easing criminal access to high-capacity weapons.