by Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced on Thursday that he’s suing Glock, Inc., an Austrian firearms manufacturer, for “knowingly manufacturing and selling handguns that can easily be converted into machine guns,” he said in a livestream press conference and subsequent press release.
Although Glock does not manufacture the aftermarket add-on devices called auto sears or “switches,” which can convert Glock handguns to fire automatically and are generally illegal to possess in the United States, the attorney general accused Glock of “refus[ing] to make design changes to discourage this conversion and promotes ‘fun’ of machine guns.”
AG Ellison alleges Glock’s practices violate Minnesota state laws against consumer fraud, deceptive trade practices, false advertising, negligence, and nuisance. His office seeks to compel Glock to make design changes and disgorge profits, which is a legal remedy requiring a party “who profits from illegal or wrongful acts” to give up any profits they made as a result of that illegal or wrongful conduct.
The auto sears or “switches” are often sold online, manufactured with 3D printers, or smuggled into the U.S. The device prevents the firearm trigger from resetting and firing just one bullet per trigger pull. Instead, the switch modifies the gun to fire continuously, or automatically, with only one trigger pull until the magazine is empty.
“I am suing Glock for knowingly manufacturing and selling handguns that can easily be converted into machine guns,” said Ellison. “Glock’s actions, and their inaction, violate Minnesota law, and put kids, communities and law enforcement in danger. This has to stop. Today’s lawsuit against Glock is about protecting our kids and protecting the guardians who look out for us.”
Ellison highlighted two Minnesota cases in which automatic gunfire was documented, including the bystander shooting death of college student Charlie Johnson in a mass shooting in 2021 outside a downtown Minneapolis nightclub, and shots fired at a Minneapolis police officer in 2023.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara was present at the press conference and expressed support for Ellison’s lawsuit against Glock. “I’m grateful to Attorney General Ellison for working to hold this manufacturer accountable for making it way too easy to commit violence,” O’Hara said. The chief commented that the issue was not “political” and should not be a “partisan” issue. Chief O’Hara said the issue is about violent crime and officer safety.
However, neither the police chief nor Ellison commented during the press conference about the numerous times Minnesota courts have failed to hold perpetrators of gun violence sufficiently accountable for their crimes, including gang member Jawan Carroll who was eventually convicted in Charlie Johnson’s murder, and other perpetrators who’ve used machine guns in crimes.
The state of New Jersey announced a similar lawsuit against Glock on Thursday as well.
The complaint filed by Ellison against Glock notes that incidents of automatic gunfire have increased in Minneapolis since 2020, when there were 16 documented incidents that included a total of 154 shots fired. Incidents of automatic gunfire spiked in 2022 at 283 with a reported 3024 shots fired in those incidents, and trended slightly downward in 2023 with 257 incidents comprising 2,595 shots fired.
“It is critically important that we continue to hold individuals who commit crimes criminally accountable for their actions,” Ellison said. “It is also important that when corporations knowingly make, market, and sell products that put people’s lives in danger, we hold them civilly accountable. We can and must reduce gun violence and keep Minnesotans safe by pursuing justice using the tools of both criminal and civil law. One is not a substitute for the other; rather, when we use them together, we fight gun violence both downstream and upstream.”
Last year, AG Ellison threatened to take civil action against auto manufacturers Kia and Hyundai claiming their vehicles were too easy to steal, amid record numbers of auto thefts in Minneapolis and across the Twin Cities.
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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
Photo “Keith Ellison” by Keith Ellison.
