The city of Chicago is suing Glock, arguing that the gun manufacturer should be liable for gun violence because its products can be modified easily into automatic weapons.
Chicago-area law enforcement officers recovered more than 1,100 modified Glock pistols between the start of 2021 and the end of 2023, the suit says.
Everytown Law, the litigation arm of the gun-control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety, is representing Chicago in the lawsuit.
Automatic weapons are strictly regulated under federal law. All automatic weapons legally owned by civilians must be registered, and the 1986 Firearm Owners Protection Act closed the machine gun registry.
Those wishing to possess an automatic weapon must find one registered before the 1986 law that a lawful owner is willing to sell.
Purchasers must be fingerprinted, apply for a transfer, and pay a special tax to take possession. By contrast, semi-automatic weapons like the Glock series of pistols are more readily available to the public.
A person could theoretically obtain a Glock semi-automatic pistol and use an auto-sear device to convert it into a fully automatic weapon. Glock does not market it as an aftermarket part.
The Chicago lawsuit argues that the gun manufacturer has long been aware of these potential illegal modifications and should have taken steps to change its designs to prevent them.
Chinese retailers sell auto-sear devices for as little as $20 and falsely market them as “other household or recreational products,” the lawsuit says. The devices also can be cheaply produced using a 3D printer and specifications readily available online, the suit says.
According to the complaint, a “Glock switch” can be attached to the back of the slide on a Glock pistol. It accomplishes rapid fire by holding the internal trigger bar down, “allowing the striker to continue firing as the slide reciprocates with recoil.”
These devices can be attached in as little as five minutes with household tools like a screwdriver, the lawsuit says. They are more difficult to install on other pistols, the suit notes.
The lawsuit alleges that Glock has known about these auto-sear devices for years.
“Instead of taking reasonable action to put an end to the modification of its pistols by civilians, Glock has made the business decision to continue profiting from the sales of its easily modifiable guns to the civilian market,” the complaint reads.
“The result endangers the health and safety of Chicagoans and increases and exacerbates the injuries and death from gun violence—draining the City’s public health, safety, investigative, and judicial resources and causing some City residents to fear using public streets, parks, schools, and transportation.”
The city of Chicago described the lawsuit as a “first-of-its-kind” effort to block Glock from selling products in the Chicago market that are too easy to convert into automatic weapons. The lawsuit also seeks compensation for damages, nuisance payments, and disgorgement of profits obtained through alleged unlawful conduct.
Modifications ‘Will Never Be Enough’
The Chicago lawsuit states that a “Glock Switch” device can be installed on the first four generations of Glock pistols (Gens1-4) by simply using a screwdriver to remove the backplate on the pistol’s slide and adding the auto-sear device in its place.The fifth generation of Glock Pistols (Gen5), which entered the market in 2017, include a polymer notch on the pistol frame that would need to be filed down before a “Glock s witch” device could be installed.
The lawsuit contends that this design alteration “presents no real obstacle or deterrent to criminals seeking to convert their Glocks” and that it still would only take minutes, with tutorials readily available online.
Kostas Moros, an attorney who represents the California Rifle & Pistol Association and routinely comments on firearms-related litigation, said the Chicago lawsuit’s comments about Gen5 Glock products reveal that the design changes needed to avoid liability are a moving target.
Mr. Moros also argued that the lawsuit would complicate Glock’s ability to market products in other states such as California, which requires new handguns to be placed on a pre-approved list before they can be marketed.
“It’s hilarious how they complain Glock still sells older generation models, when at least part of the reason they do that is to serve the California market where newer generations cannot be sold due to the Handgun Roster, which Everytown supports!” Mr. Moros wrote.
