Attorney General Ellison sues Glock for making and selling handguns that can easily be turned into machine guns
Glock, which dominates the American handgun market, has known since at least 1988 that ‘Glock switches’ quickly and easily convert Glock handguns into illegal machine guns, yet refuses to make design choices to discourage this conversion and promotes ‘fun’ of machine guns
Easily converted Glocks have caused injury and death among Minnesota civilians and law enforcement, while incidents of fully automatic gunfire soar
Attorney General alleges Glock’s practices violate Minnesota state laws against consumer fraud, deceptive trade practices, false advertising, negligence, and nuisance; seeks design changes, disgorgement of profits
December 12, 2024 (SAINT PAUL) — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a lawsuit today against gun manufacturer Glock, Inc. and its Austrian parent company for manufacturing, marketing, and selling semi-automatic handguns that Glock knows can easily be converted into illegal machine guns with a device known as a “Glock switch.” Glock switches are putting Minnesota communities and Minnesota law enforcement at risk from illegal machine guns.
Among the several documented incidents in Minnesota in which Glocks that had been converted to machine guns have injured or killed people are:
- The May 22, 2021 shoot-out at a Minneapolis nightclub that killed two people, including 21-year-old bystander Charlie Johnson, who died hours before his graduation ceremony at the University of St. Thomas. The person who was convicted of killing them was sentenced to more than 69 years in prison in December 2022.
- The August 11, 2023 shooting of an undercover Minneapolis police officer, from which the officer recovered. The person who pleaded guilty to shooting him was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison in May 2024.
“I am suing Glock for knowingly manufacturing and selling handguns that can easily be converted into machine guns,” said Attorney General 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.”
“It is critically important that we continue to hold individuals who commit crimes criminally accountable for their actions,” added Ellison. “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.”
“I ask you to remember our son Charlie and all the victims like him," said Greg Johnson, father of Charlie Johnson. "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. 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.”
"I'm grateful to Attorney General Ellison for working to hold this manufacturer accountable for making it way too easy to commit violence," said Brian O'Hara, Chief of the Minneapolis Police Department. "This is not a political issue. This should not be a partisan issue. This is a violent crime issue. This is an officer safety issue."
It has been illegal in Minnesota since the 1930s for the public to own fully automatic machine guns. Glock, however, has known since at least 1988 that its semi-automatic handguns can be easily converted into fully automatic machine guns by a small device that allows a Glock handgun to fire continuously with a single trigger pull.
In the complaint, filed in state court in Hennepin County, Attorney General 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, the Venezuelan inventor of another device that allows Glock handguns fire fully automatically, also demonstrated to Mr. Glock 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 easy conversion of legal Glock handguns into illegal machine guns. But not only has Glock not chosen to do so, it has continued to glorify and promote the “fun” of shooting a fully automatic Glock, in full knowledge both that its semi-automatic handguns can be quickly and easily converted into machine guns and that machine guns are illegal in the United States.
Glock dominates the market for handguns in the United States: 65 percent of all handguns sold in America are Glocks. Indeed, one of the reasons Glocks are so popular is that Glock switches are readily available and can be purchased online for as little as $10 apiece. 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” to attach the Glock switch. Numerous videos available online explain how to easily equip a Glock switch in just a few minutes. Glock switches can also be printed by anyone with a 3D printer.
Although Glock does not manufacture switches itself, many switches bear Glock’s logo and Glock 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 rounds fired in 2021, 3,024 rounds fired in 2022, and 2,595 rounds fired 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, Attorney General Ellison alleges that Glock’s conduct violates Minnesota state laws against consumer fraud, deceptive trade practices, false statement 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.
Attorney General Ellison announced his lawsuit on the same day that New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced that he is also suing Glock, Inc. and its Austrian parent company in New Jersey state court for similar violations of New Jersey law.
“With this lawsuit, we are putting the homemade machine gun industry out of business. For decades, Glock has knowingly sold weapons that anyone with a screwdriver and a YouTube video can convert into a military-grade machine gun in a matter of minutes,” said New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin. “Glock’s ownership sits in Austria lining their pockets with profits paid for by American bloodshed fueled by their products — and we are sick of it. Our message today to Glock is clear: the days of putting greed ahead of the safety of our residents and law enforcement officers are over. I want to thank Attorney General Ellison for helping lead this effort alongside New Jersey to fight weapons that flout our public safety laws.”
“Gun violence has a devastating impact on our community, exacerbated by the ease with which Glock handguns can be converted into fully automatic weapons,” said Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty. “These “switches” are too easy to procure and too easy to install, as evidenced by the significant number of cases that come through our office where these modified weapons were used with devastating outcomes. This is a critical public safety issue, and we must do everything possible on all fronts to keep our communities safe – our office fully supports this action by the Attorney General.”
“Gun violence is sadly a common occurrence throughout our Nation and requires all of us to work together and develop new strategies to effectively combat this epidemic,” said Ramsey County Attorney John Choi. “Together with law enforcement in Ramsey County, we have built new strategies to solve and prosecute more non-fatal shooting cases over the past year. This lawsuit will also be a critical part of our collective efforts to stem the severity of gun violence incidents in our community. We appreciate the partnership and leadership of our Attorney General.”
"For years, Glock has had the opportunity — and responsibility — to prioritize safety in the design of its firearms. Instead, it has continued to manufacture semi-automatic handguns with a specific design that makes them uniquely susceptible to the installation of devices that convert their guns into illegal fully automatic machine guns. This lawsuit — which is the first of its kind in Minnesota — challenges Glock’s refusal to address preventable harm,” said Lekha Menon, an attorney with GIFFORDS Law Center. “The data is clear: Minnesota law enforcement and communities are grappling with a surge in gun violence involving semi-automatic Glock handguns converted into illegal and dangerous fully automatic machine guns. Today's lawsuit is a significant step forward to protect public safety and hold Glock accountable for its role in enabling deadly violence in Minnesota. Thank you to Attorney General Ellison for demonstrating courage in this fight against gun violence.”
Attorneys with the GIFFORDS Law Center serve as Special Assistant Attorneys General to the Minnesota Attorney General's Office in its litigation against Glock.
“We are proud to partner with Attorney General Ellison and GIFFORDS Law Center in this lawsuit to hold Glock accountable for their wrongful product design and demand they do better,” said Rose Lewis, a law student with the University of Minnesota's Gun Violence Prevention Law Clinic.
Since its inception, the University of Minnesota Law School’s Gun Violence Prevention Clinic has worked in close partnership with the Minnesota Attorney General's office on both affirmative and defensive cases. The students and faculty in the Clinic serve as Special Assistant Attorneys General and represent Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison in court.
Attorney General Ellison’s record of holding corporations accountable for harming public safety
Individuals who commit criminal acts should be held accountable for those acts in the criminal-justice system. The Attorney General is an active partner in criminal prosecution in Minnesota: the Criminal Division of the Attorney General’s Office assists county attorneys across Minnesota upon their request in prosecuting individuals who have committed serious violent crimes, and has a long track record of winning convictions.
At the same time, when corporations create conditions that contribute to harming public safety, then refuse to rectify those conditions when they become aware of them, they should also be held accountable. Holding corporations civilly accountable is not a substitute for criminally prosecuting individuals who harm others: it complements criminal prosecution by holding corporate actors farther upstream accountable for their role in creating conditions that harm the safety of the public and facilitate individual criminal acts.
Attorney General Ellison’s lawsuit against Glock is the latest example of his use of civil law to complement criminal prosecution in holding actors accountable for harming public safety. Other examples include:
- Attorney General Ellison’s October 2022 lawsuit against gun retailer Fleet Farm for negligently selling firearms to straw purchasers. In June 2023, a federal district court upheld the entirety of the lawsuit against Fleet Farm, which continues in discovery and will be ready for trial in 2025.
- Attorney General Ellison’s ongoing investigation, launched in March 2023, of automobile manufacturers Hyundai and Kia for selling vehicles to Minnesota consumers that lacked industry-standard, anti-theft technology. Hyundai and Kia have consistently refused to provide a meaningful fix to the widely reported and well known problem that has allowed for Hyundais and Kias to be easily stolen. Stolen Kias and Hyundais have been involved in numerous violent crimes in Minnesota, including fatal ones.
- Attorney General Ellison’s investigation into whether Merwin Liquor and Winner Gas Station were maintaining or permitting an unlawful public nuisance on their properties. Both locations had been the sites of numerous acts of gun violence and had been described as “one of the city’s largest open-air drug bazaars.” This investigation led to a dramatic reduction in drug sales and gun violence outside these businesses.
