Stoddard County woman guilty to trying to sell machine gun conversion devices

A Stoddard County, Missouri, woman pleaded guilty Monday, Feb. 6, to selling devices that turn AR-15-style semiautomatic rifles into fully automatic machine guns.

Sidney Brianne Scowden, 41, faces four counts: one count of conspiracy to transfer a machine gun and three counts of transfer of a machine gun.

A spokesman with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said there has been a 500% increase nationally in the number of cases involving the sale or manufacturing of illegal machine guns from 2021 to 2022. Missouri has seen a similar increase, he said. Most cases involve what's known as "lightning links" or devices that go by many other names that turn semi-automatic weapons into fully automatic machine guns, capable of rapidly firing bullets for as long as the shooter holds in the trigger. A semiautomatic weapon only shoots as quickly as a person can pull the trigger for each individual shot.

John Ham, the spokesman from the ATF office in Kansas City, Missouri, said this is the first machine gun case in recent memory coming out of Southeast Missouri, but there have been several in the St. Louis and Kansas City metro areas.

According to court documents, Scowden sold the devices to a confidential informant with the bureau.

The ATF confidential informant received a Snapchat message from Scowden on Aug. 3, according to the guilty plea agreement obtained by the Southeast Missourian.

"You know anyone who wants to buy a lightning link for an AR to go fully automatic?" the message to the informant read. From there, the confidential informant engaged in a conversation about the devices, with Scowden acknowledging, "You know I could catch a federal charge over this thing right? ...?"

Scowden agreed to meet with the informant and sell him the devices for $500 apiece.

Scowden, who was convicted on burglary charges in 2020, said she had four of the lightning link devices, but only three had all the necessary pieces to function. The plea agreement states that her source had purchased an "original" lightning link device for $10,000, which was used for a template to make copies of the device to sell.

Through search warrants and subpoenas, the investigation determined the source of the lightning links was Edward Hardin. Hardin, 40, of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, was charged as part of the conspiracy.

A Google search for lightning link returns 3.2 million results, including blueprints. Essentially, a lightning link — also known as drop-in auto sears — is a simple piece of metal cut to specifications to fit the gun, forcing it to release the hammer. Even if not installed in a firearm, lightning links and similar devices are considered machine guns under federal law.

Ham, the ATF spokesman said, "The devices are either being manufactured overseas, marketed as legitimate and essentially smuggled into the country, or they're being made here with the use of 3D printers. These things are highly unpredictable. They're not made by respected gun manufacturers. We've seen where you hold in the trigger nothing happens, and when you let go, it starts firing."

Combined with a high-capacity magazine, an automatic weapon is a serious public safety issue, Ham said. Lightning links are specifically designed for commercial AR-15s, according to ATF materials.

The manufacturing of machine guns has been illegal since 1986. Special exceptions are made for those who build machine guns for government use.

The guilty plea agreement said that in exchange for the defendant's guilty plea, the government agreed no further federal prosecution would be brought relative to the case.

Scowden is scheduled to be sentenced May 9.

Scowden could see a maximum sentence of five years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine, or both, on the conspiracy charge. On the transfer of a machine gun counts, she could face 10 years in prison per count, along with an up to $250,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Willis is prosecuting the case.