The city of Chicago filed a lawsuit against Glock on Tuesday, March 19, alleging that the gun manufacturer knowingly sells pistols that can be easily converted into illegal machine guns. The lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, claims that Glock has been aware for years that adding a low-cost component called an auto sear to its popular pistols enables users to switch between semi-automatic and fully automatic firing modes.
Chicago police reportedly recovered over 1,100 Glock pistols modified in this manner between 2021 and 2023. These modified Glocks, costing as little as $20 to modify, are allegedly the most frequently used firearms in crimes within the city. As machine guns—defined by federal law as firearms capable of firing multiple rounds with a single trigger pull—are illegal in Illinois and regulated federally, the lawsuit accuses Glock of violating Illinois’ consumer protection law as well as Chicago’s related ordinance.
“’While Chicago has long struggled with an epidemic of gun violence, it is unquestionable that the ease of modification of Glocks and the resulting prevalence of Modified Glocks have made the situation worse,’ the city said in the lawsuit.” Reuters
While Glock does not manufacture auto sears, the lawsuit claims that it only take $20 and a screwdriver to add one to a Glock pistol, transforming it into a weapon able to discharge a whopping 1,200 rounds per minute. The city asserts that a simple modification to Glock pistols could prevent the addition of an auto sear.
This legal action follows the passage of a new Illinois law in August, which permits lawsuits against gun manufacturers over unsafe marketing practices under the state’s consumer protection laws. Illinois joins several other states that have passed similar laws in recent years, aimed at facilitating legal challenges against the firearms industry, which enjoys significant protection from liability under the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.
The lawsuit was filed jointly by the city’s law department, the gun reform organization Everytown Law, and attorneys from Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. It is officially titled City of Chicago v. Glock, and has been assigned case number 2024-CH-02216 in the Circuit Court of Cook County.
Source:
City of Chicago sues Glock over ‘ease’ of machine gun conversion