MINNEAPOLIS — The state of Minnesota sued firearms giant Glock on Thursday, seeking to change how it makes its popular handgun.
The problem, according to state Attorney General Keith Ellison, is the ease with which the semiautomatic handgun can be converted into a fully automatic weapon with the use of a simple piece of plastic called a “switch.”
“Glock has known about this problem for decades and done nothing,” Ellison said at a press conference Thursday. “A change in design could prevent these handguns from being turned into illegal automatic weapons but Glock has turned a blind eye, and again and again, the death toll continues to rise.”
Retailers sell switches that can also be made with 3D printers. While the device is illegal in Minnesota, it has not stopped its widespread use in shooting incidents in Minneapolis.
According to data collected by shot-detection equipment, the city saw 16 automatic fire incidents with 154 shots fired in 202 versus 257 incidents and 2,595 shots fired in 2023.
“Glock’s actions, and their inaction, violate Minnesota law and put kids, communities and law enforcement in danger. This has to stop,” Ellison said. “Today’s lawsuit against Glock is about protecting our kids and protecting the guardians who look out for us.”
His office seeks a change in design for Glock’s handguns so that they cannot be easily converted into automatic weapons. Ellison also wants restitution from the weapon’s manufacturer, but the complaint did not list a dollar amount.
Police have been aggressive in arresting those who sell the device and in investigating shootings, but that has not been enough to quell gun violence, Ellison said.
Gun-related homicides in Minneapolis have increased 166% from 2019 to 2022, along with a 101% increase in gunshot victims.
According to Ellison, Glock is responsible for the spike since its design allows for a “switch,” roughly the size of a dime, to unleash an entire magazine with one trigger pull.
“Like replacing the batteries in a remote control, a user simply removes the plastic slide cover plate from the back of a Glock handgun and attaches the Glock switch,” Ellison’s office says in the complaint.
Ellison accuses Glock of being a public nuisance by aiding and abetting these shootings and negligently producing, selling and marketing switches for Glock handguns in his lawsuit.
Glock has intentionally marketed the use of switches to make its handgun fully automatic on social media and in promotional materials including video, he said.
“They’re advertising a product that they cannot sell to the general public. Why?” Ellison said.
The lawsuit, which names Georgia based Glock Inc. and its parent company, Austria-based Glock Limited, follows both the rise in automatic gun violence in Minneapolis and two high-profile shootings in 2023.
In May of that year, two shooters killed a college student outside of a Minneapolis nightclub and injured seven others. And that August, an Minneapolis police officer was shot while investigating a series of robberies in north Minneapolis.
Shooters in those incidents were equipped with Glock handguns with a “switch” installed.
“We know that automatic gunfire did not even exist in Minneapolis until Aug. 13, 2020,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said at the press conference. “That was the first time automatic gunfire was detected in the city and it has increasingly been a problem since.”
O’Hara said he is thankful for Ellison’s actions regarding gun violence and cautioned not to politicize automatic weapons.
“This is a violent crime issue. This is an officer safety issue and it is urgent,” O’Hara said.
According to Ellison’s office, Minneapolis police recovered three times as many switches in 2023 as in 2021, when it first started tracking the devices.