Gun violence victim and gun violence prevention leader Tommy McBrayer applauds the decision by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to sue gun manufacturer Glock Inc.
Ellison filed against Glock and its Austrian parent company on Dec. 12 for manufacturing, marketing, and selling semi-automatic handguns that can easily be converted into illegal machine guns with a cheap device known as a “Glock switch.”
“As an organization that’s trying to prevent gun violence, here’s a system that wants to keep the violence going,” said McBrayer, founder and CEO of Don’t Shoot Guns, Shoot Hoops. “Gun manufacturers don’t care about the violence from these switches. We need to go after them because once these things hit the streets it’s too late. I support Keith Ellison, appreciate him for what he’s doing.”
Ellison said he is suing Glock for knowingly manufacturing and selling handguns that can easily be converted into machine guns. “Glock’s actions, and their inaction, violate Minnesota law and put kids, communities, and law enforcement in danger. This has to stop,” he said.
“It is critically important that we continue to hold individuals who commit crimes criminally accountable for their actions. It’s 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.”
The gun industry has enjoyed wide exemptions from liability since 2005 when President George W. Bush signed the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (“PLCAA”), a law shielding firearm and ammunition manufacturers, dealers, and other industry members from many kinds of lawsuits. These exemptions are not absolute, however.
“The PLCAA protects the ‘lawful design, manufacture, marketing, distribution, importation or sale to the public of firearms’ and shields firearm manufacturers from lawsuits regarding ‘the criminal or unlawful misuse’ of a firearm,” Ellison noted. “My office is not suing Glock simply because their firearms are used to commit crimes. My office is suing Glock because Glock deliberately and unlawfully designs firearms that can easily be modified to become fully automatic machine guns, all while marketing the desirability of fully automatic handguns and emphasizing how easy it is to customize Glock handguns.
Ellison said his lawsuit against Glock is permissible under PLCAA because Glock’s conduct violates Minnesota law. “I will not allow Glock to hide behind PLCAA while flooding Minnesota with deadly, fully automatic weapons that jeopardize the lives of the public and members of law enforcement,” he added.
It has been illegal in Minnesota since the 1930s for the public to own fully automatic machine guns. In the complaint, filed in state court in Hennepin County, Ellison outlines that Glock has known for nearly 40 years that its semi-automatic handguns can be easily converted into illegal machine guns.
In 1988, Glock founder Gaston Glock demonstrated a device that converted a Glock semi-automatic handgun into a fully automatic machine gun. Jorge Leon, a Venezuelan inventor, also demonstrated how his invention converts a Glock semi-automatic into a machine gun.
Glock could fix this problem by changing its so-called “simple” handgun design to prevent the conversion but has chosen not to do so while promoting the “fun” of shooting a fully automatic weapon.
Glock dominates the market for handguns in the United States: 65% of all handguns sold in America are Glocks. Among the reasons Glocks are so popular are the switches that can be purchased online for as little as $10. One website selling Glock switches provides a “step-by-step guide” to the “relatively simple process that can be completed in just a few minutes.” Glock switches can also be printed with a 3D printer.
Although Glock does not manufacture switches itself, many bear Glock’s logo and the company knows they are commonly called “Glock switches.”
The proliferation of converted Glocks has contributed to a dramatic increase in automatic gunfire. Minneapolis ShotSpotter data shows that fully automatic gunfire increased in Minneapolis from 154 rounds fired in 2020 to 2,033 in 2021, 3,024 in 2022, and 2,595 in 2023. Similarly, incidents involving fully automatic firearms increased from 16 in 2020 to 194 in 2021, 283 in 2022, and 257 in 2023.
In the complaint, Ellison alleges that Glock’s conduct violates Minnesota state laws against consumer fraud, deceptive trade practices, false statements in advertising, negligence, and nuisance. Among other things, he seeks to compel Glock to make design changes that would inhibit the ability of a Glock switch to easily convert a Glock into a machine gun, pay civil penalties, and disgorge profits it has made through its illegal conduct.
There are several documented incidents in Minnesota in which converted Glocks have injured or killed people, including the May 22, 2021 shootout at a Minneapolis nightclub that claimed two victims, including 21-year-old bystander Charlie Johnson. Johnson died hours before his graduation ceremony from the University of St. Thomas. The person convicted in the case was sentenced to more than 69 years in prison
“There are families like ours all over this country, and it’s not OK to do nothing; there are commonsense things that can be done,” said Greg Johnson, father of Charlie Johnson. “Think of how many handguns Glock has sold, knowing that they can be converted into machine guns. Shame on them. They should be held accountable.”
Cynthia Moothart welcomes reader responses to cmoothart@spokesman-recorder.com.