A “Glock switch” is an after-market device which is designed to illegally convert a semiautomatic Glock pistol into a fully automatic machine gun. (ATF)

A Birmingham man has been indicted on federal charges after authorities say he possessed a device that illegally converts a handgun to a machine gun.

A grand jury on Wednesday issued the two-count indictment against 32-year-old Fredrick Leonard Temple Jr. He is charged with possession of a machine gun and receipt of an unregistered firearm, according to a joint announcement by Northern District of Alabama U.S. Attorney Prim Escalona and ATF Special Agent in Charge Mickey French.

According to the indictment, Temple in January illegally possessed a Glock 9mm pistol equipped with a “Glock switch” – an after-market device which is designed to illegally convert a semiautomatic Glock pistol into a fully automatic machine gun.

Across the country, from California to Texas and in between, federal prosecutors are indicting more suspects for possession of the switches.

Matthew Beccio of ATF’s Savannah, Ga. field office told ABC’s WJCL 22 in April that the device is particularly concerning because a converted handgun has limited accuracy, which means the intended target may not get wounded, but others will.

“You are unable to control the firearm in an effective way. So essentially those projectiles, those bullets are being fired haphazardly and indiscriminately everywhere,” Beccio told the television station.

According to the Department of Justice, investigators in Houston linked a Glock switch to a mass shooting that wounded three police officers in January, reported Fox 8 in New Orleans. Lawmakers in California are also asking the ATF to crack down on Glock switches after six people died in Sacramento last month in a shooting involving the deadly device, the television station reported.

Guns outfitted with a Glock switch can fire up to 1,100 rounds a minute, ATF agent Tim Carroll told the television station. “It will continue fire unless you pull your finger off the trigger or the magazine runs out of ammunition,” Carroll said.

The ATF and the Shelby County Drug Enforcement Task Force investigated the case against Temple. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristy Peoples is prosecuting.

The maximum penalty for possession of a machine gun is 10 years in prison. The maximum penalty for receipt or possession of an unregistered firearm is 10 years in prison.

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