Despite new Glock models, Minnesota charges ahead with lawsuit against gunmaker
Glock redesigns handgun, lawsuit moves forward
Despite Glock’s recent rollout of its new handgun models, the State of Minnesota argued in a recent court filing that the updated designs "fail to prevent quick and easy conversion of the new handguns" into illegal machine guns.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Despite Glock’s recent rollout of its new handgun models, the State of Minnesota argued in a recent court filing that the updated designs "fail to prevent quick and easy conversion of the new handguns" into illegal machine guns.
‘Again and again, the death toll continues to rise’
Timeline:
Minnesota’s Attorney General filed a civil lawsuit against Glock in 2024 over the design of its popular handgun, which the state claims can be easily modified to fire like a machine gun with a "switch" conversion device.
Why you should care:
Charlie Johnson, 21, was shot in the back and killed by a stray bullet from a shootout in downtown Minneapolis in 2021. He was an innocent bystander out with friends the night before he was set to graduate from the University of St. Thomas.
"We were thankful every day that we had healthy kids… until the day we didn’t," said Charlie’s father, Greg Johnson.
Charlie’s story is highlighted in the lawsuit against Glock.
"The guns in these cases have been converted into fully automatic weapons using a simple cheap device called a Glock switch,’ said Ellison during a presser in December 2024. "A change of design could prevent these handguns from being turned into illegal weapons but Glock has turned a blind eye, and again and again, the death toll continues to rise."
By the numbers:
Gunshot detection technology in Minneapolis tracked a dramatic spike in shootings involving fully automatic gunfire – from just 154 shots fired in 2020 to more than 3,000 shots fired in 2022.
"They’re typically not able to control the aim of the weapon because of the recoil and rapid succession," said Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara. "Because of that, you typically have multiple victims that are struck, people that are unintended targets of the shooting."
‘Redesigning Glock guns
Glock debuted its new model of handguns earlier this year, and in recent court filings, the company claims it "has made extensive efforts to redesign GLOCK pistols to prevent the use of [machine gun conversion devices]."
Within days of Glock’s release of its new Glock Model V, a variety of social media posts surfaced appearing to show the new models being modified to fire fully automatic.
"Within two weeks, we can build a switch for it. We can convert it to full auto," one video boasted.
Citing those videos, the attorney general’s office said the new Glock models "fail to prevent quick and easy conversion of the new handguns."
In an interview last year, Adam Skaggs, chief counsel for the Giffords Law Center, said Glock has changed its design before but the design changes "have been completely ineffective in preventing them from being converted to machine guns."
States and cities sue Glock
What they're saying:
Glock is now facing civil lawsuits by attorneys general in Minnesota and New Jersey, in addition to major cities including Seattle, Philadelphia and Chicago.
"No one is trying to stop Glock from selling handguns. Nobody is trying to stop other manufacturers from selling firearms. What we are trying to do is to make them do so in a responsible, accountable manner," Skaggs said.
The other side: Gun rights advocates see this wave of lawsuits as a coordinated assault on the gun industry.
"We know it’s a national strategy to attack the firearms' industry – and it shouldn’t be happening because the firearms' industry has done nothing," said Richard Pearson, of the Illinois State Rifle Association.
"Any firearm probably can be modified some way or another if you took enough time to do it," Pearson said.
Overcoming a federal shield law
Glock’s attorneys have repeatedly tried to get Minnesota’s lawsuit thrown out, and at one point claimed a federal shield law "provides Glock with federal immunity from even having to present a defense."
However, a state judge refused to dismiss the lawsuit last summer after citing the state’s evidence of "misleading and deceptive" marketing campaigns, including social media videos that the state said glorifies the fully automatic use of a Glock.
Another post by Glock said "the only thing more fun than a Glock is a full auto Glock."
"Fun doesn’t justify having a weapon of mass destruction on our streets," Johnson said.
What's next:
The case against Glock has now moved into the discovery phase. A trial could still be a year or more away.