Attorney General Ellison defeats motion to dismiss in lawsuit against Glock

State’s lawsuit against Glock for making and selling handguns that can easily be turned into machine guns will move forward

Lawsuit is the latest example of AG Ellison using civil tools to hold corporate bad actors accountable when they jeopardize public safety for profit

August 21, 2025 (SAINT PAUL) — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced today that Minnesota has prevailed against Glock’s attempt to dismiss Minnesota’s lawsuit against the handgun manufacturer. On December 12, 2024 Attorney General Ellison announced that he was suing Glock 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 moved to dismiss the State’s complaint, and the Court heard oral argument on Glock’s motion on May 23, 2025.

“Glock has been sacrificing the safety of Minnesotans to turn a profit for too long,” said Attorney General Keith Ellison. “I am pleased the Court is allowing our lawsuit against Glock to move forward, and that it rejected Glock’s motion to dismiss in full. Today’s ruling puts us one step closer to ensuring Glock can no longer flood Minnesota with handguns that can easily be converted into illegal, fully automatic machine guns. I will continue working with law enforcement to prosecute people who put others’ lives in danger, and I will continue working to hold corporations accountable when they manufacture and sell products that also put people in harm’s way.”

“This is a major victory in the fight against gun violence and crime for Minnesotans. The gun industry doesn’t have a free pass to break the law,” said former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords. “When gun companies endanger communities, they should be held responsible, and that is the justice we are pursuing in this lawsuit. We applaud Attorney General Ellison for his leadership and look forward to continuing this case.”

"This lawsuit is about ensuring fewer Minnesota families have to lose a loved one to a Glock equipped with a switch," said Professor Megan Walsh, director of the University of Minnesota Law School's Gun Violence Prevention Clinic (GVP Clinic). "The decision today confirms that the Constitution does not provide Glock a right to use manipulative marketing that encourages consumers to turn its firearms into illegal machine guns, nor does it give Glock the right to sell firearms that are so easily modified into fully automatic guns. The GVP Clinic is proud to partner with the Minnesota Attorney General and GIFFORDS Law Center to advance our shared goals of reducing gun violence in our home state."

Hennepin County Judge Christian Sande denied Glock’s motion to dismiss in full, holding that the State’s claims are not barred by the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. The court rejected Glock’s arguments that the State’s claims are not legally cognizable and held “the State sufficiently alleges that the act of criminals illegally converting Glock handguns into machine guns with Glock switches was foreseeable and known to Defendants.” The court also ruled that “the Second Amendment does not prevent this action.”

With this ruling, the State will now proceed to seek discovery from the Glock defendants.

Glock handguns pose a serious threat to public safety in Minnesota

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 with a small device that allows a Glock handgun to fire continuously with a single trigger pull.

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.

Glock handguns equipped with Glock switches have been used to injure and kill Minnesotans, including during the following shootings:

The Attorney General’s lawsuit against Glock, filed in Hennepin County state court, alleges that Glock handguns equipped with Glock switches put Minnesota communities and Minnesota law enforcement at risk from illegal machine guns. But Glock has not changed the design of the handguns it is selling to prevent this conversion. Further, Glock glorifies and promotes the “fun” of shooting a fully automatic Glock handgun.

The State’s complaint brings claims against Glock, Inc. and its Austrian parent company, Glock Ges.m.b.H., alleging violations of Minnesota state laws against consumer fraud, deceptive trade practices, false advertising, negligence, and nuisance. Among other things, the Attorney General 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 continues to hold 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; rather, 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 ongoing lawsuit against Glock is the latest example of his pioneering use of civil law to complement criminal prosecution in holding actors accountable for harming public safety. Other examples include: