Kansas City man accused of having devices that turned firearms into weapons of war

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Investigators say a Kansas City man who had homemade devices that turned regular weapons into weapons of war is now in jail.

Dalton Johnston is accused of selling pieces to alter firearms after a sting investigation. Investigators say he had hundreds of the homemade devices before he was caught.

“These dangerously lethal and illegal weapons pose a threat to both public safety and the safety of law enforcement officers,” Teresa Moore, the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, said.

“These highly dangerous devices transform a street corner into a combat zone, devastating entire communities,” Special Agent Bernard Hansen with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms — Kansas City Field Division said.

Johnston now faces the harsh repercussions of his alleged actions. Federal prosecutors say he had and was making hundreds of machine conversion devices – turning semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic machine guns.

“Machine gun conversion devices are often cheap and homemade, just a small piece of metal or plastic that converts a run-of-the-mill firearm into a weapon of war,” Moore said.

Investigators said Johnston sold one of the devices he made with a 3Dprinter to an undercover ATF agent. Federal prosecutors say he with that agent at least three separate times in August before law enforcement made the arrest.

The 27-year-old is now charged with three felonies.

“If you’re manufacturing or in possession of these deadly devices, we will identify you and arrest you, we will not let up,” Special Agent Hansen said.

The operation to get what they needed to bring these charges went on for nearly a month, but now we can report that he is indeed behind bars.

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