New Minnesota law increases penalties for auto sears

A new law will soon crack down on the use of machine guns in Minnesota. 

Anyone caught using an auto sear or “switch” will now face up to 20 years in prison. The change comes after 5 INVESTIGATES documented a surge of automatic gunfire in the Twin Cities last summer. 

Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, introduced the legislation. 

“They know that they’re going to be a greater risk if they use these devices on the street. Not hard to figure out that the devices were, in fact, used and look at a crime scene and you can see the devastation that was involved,” Latz said.