Underground Arms Watch returns with another look at recently seized oddball weapons. Featured as the title picture is an improvised .22 firearm seized by police in Brazil from someone who “reported that he was shooting to scare off robbers who wanted to rob his residence.” It appears to be assembled from a number of items including a cut down barrel taken from an air rifle, part of a table leg or crutch and a piece of a bicycle perhaps. I’m not sure how the designer intended it to be held.

Below are two Glocks seized by Cincinnati Police on the 16th, one appearing to have been fitted with a 3D printed auto switch, something apparently being seen more often.

DC Police See Increase in ‘Giggle Switches’ – NBC Washington

“D.C. police are becoming increasingly alarmed over an illegal device called a giggle switch that can turn a semiautomatic pistol into a fully automatic machine gun.

In recent weeks, officers have found as many as five of them on the backs of pistols in two neighborhoods in Northeast.

“It’s a big problem; it’s a huge problem,” D.C. police Cmdr. Ramey Kyle said. “You know, guns are inherently dangerous, and with these switches, that’s magnified 10, 20 times.”

 

From Australia, two illicitly made machine pistols of a type reportedly used in the shooting of a former Mongols biker gang member following his release from prison in October 2020. Four identical machine pistols were previously seized back in June 2018.

 

What appears to be a homemade silenced submachine gun among weapons seized from a drug dealer in Dorfen, Germany in May:

 

Three handcrafted junk pistols confiscated from a man in Germany late last month:

 

A crudely altered Italian made 8mm BBM 315 blank firing pistol seized by Kent Police in the UK:

 

Another adapted blank firing pistol pictured alongside modified blank cartridges which was seized following a botched robbery in Nairobi:

 

“Two Thugs Shot Dead In Langata After A Botched Robbery On A Woman

As reported, this woman had jus been dropped off by a taxi at Muhoho road, Langata before these thugs who were armed with a pistol confronted her, demanded that she gives them everything valuable she had.

A report from DCI Kinoti says that this action prompted the woman to scream thus alerting police who were on a patrol. They then rushed towards the site.

However, on noticing the fast approaching security officers, the thugs took to their heels towards Nairobi West while firing at the security officers. These thugs narrowly missed one of the officers.

Three kilometers after the scene, the thugs were finally cornered. The gin battle became fierce and the police managed to gun down the two of them. A Blow P99A loaded pistol with 5.56 calibre ammunition was recovered. Their bodies were taken to the city mortuary waiting for identification.” Opera News

 

A P.A. Luty inspired submachine gun seized in June by police in the Brazilian municipality of Andira:

 

Another submachine gun seized in the city of Feira de Santana last Sunday (11):

 

Multiple double-barrel slam-fire shotguns seized last month by police in Paranoa, Brazil:

 

Lastly, a typical report of cottage arms dealing in Thailand:

Man caught making guns for online sale

A 39-year-old factory machinist was arrested on charges of illegally making, modifying and selling guns when police raided his room at a workers’ dormitory in Pak Kret district, Nonthaburi.

During questioning, Prajak said he worked at the factory but did not earn enough to make ends meet due to the rising cost of living. So he worked with some friends in producing pen guns, BB guns and blank guns. The guns were sold to a trader who later sold them online.

The suspect allegedly admitted he had been making guns for two years and had sold more than 100 to the trader.

He used the skills he learned at technical college and the machines and equipment at the factory to produce the guns when nobody was there.

Each pen gun cost about 400 baht to make and he sold them for 1,100 baht each to the trader, who resold it for 1,600 baht. The cost of making the blank guns and BB guns was 8,000-9,000 baht each and once fitted with barrels they were sold at 16,000-20,000 baht each, depending on the gun. Bangkok Post