Baltimore is suing gunmaker Glock over design options that enable its handguns to be simply modified to turn into totally automated weapons, which permits criminals to inflict extra harm and makes the town extra harmful, attorneys argue in a criticism filed Wednesday.
The lawsuit follows comparable instances introduced towards Glock in Chicago, Minnesota and New Jersey. They accuse the corporate of failing to guard the general public by promoting firearms that may be tailored with dime-sized switches to spray steady gunfire — as much as 1,200 rounds per minute — as a substitute of firing one bullet every time the set off is pulled.
“That’s quicker than the weapons of warfare that I used within the Military,” Maryland Legal professional Common Anthony Brown mentioned throughout a information convention Wednesday morning asserting it. “ATF brokers name it ‘spray and pray’ as a result of as soon as the set off is pulled, there’s no management — solely carnage.”
The state of Maryland joined the town of Baltimore as a plaintiff within the lawsuit.
Also known as Glock switches or auto sears, the conversion units will be purchased for about $20 or 3D-printed. They’ve acquired heightened consideration lately as a result of they’re more and more turning up at crime scenes.
Glock isn’t the one gunmaker whose weapons will be tailored with switches, however critics say its handguns are among the many best to transform. With uncommon exceptions, federal regulation prohibits the sale and possession of machine weapons.
“Glock may have designed its pistols to forestall auto sears from working. They selected to not. That selection price lives,” Brown mentioned.
Frivolous Claims
Glock didn’t reply to a Wednesday electronic mail looking for remark, and it hasn’t responded to earlier AP requests for touch upon lawsuits over the switches. However a gun trade group has condemned the New Jersey and Minnesota lawsuits as frivolous claims that abuse the judicial system and disrespect federal regulation.
A report final yr by the anti-violence group Everytown for Gun Security mentioned modified Glocks are sometimes utilized in crimes. And the corporate has lengthy been conscious that simple conversion is a promoting level, mentioned Eric Tirschwell, govt director of Everytown Legislation, which represents the plaintiffs within the Maryland lawsuit.
The model is probably greatest identified for its recognition amongst regulation enforcement officers, who nearly solely carry Glock handguns. However Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley mentioned the current proliferation of Glock switches means his officers more and more discover themselves “outmatched by criminals.”
Baltimore police recovered 65 modified Glocks in 2024, in comparison with 35 the earlier yr, officers mentioned. Roughly half the individuals arrested with modified Glocks because the starting of 2023 have been underneath 21 years previous, in response to the swimsuit. The criticism alleges that Glock switches are including to a tradition of violence amongst younger males throughout Baltimore.
Filed in state courtroom in Baltimore, the lawsuit accuses Glock of violating Maryland’s public nuisance legal guidelines. It seeks an injunction stopping the sale of sure firearms in Maryland, a courtroom order demanding security measures and restitution funds that might contribute to anti-violence applications.
The Maryland Common Meeting handed a regulation final yr permitting for civil motion towards members of the firearm trade who fail to fulfill minimal requirements to forestall hurt. One other invoice banned the conversion units.
Baltimore leaders additionally sued the ghost gun producer Polymer80, which agreed to cease promoting its untraceable, unassembled firearms to Maryland residents underneath a settlement introduced final yr. The Nevada-based firm later shut down after dealing with a deluge of lawsuits.
Baltimore has just lately skilled important reductions in gun violence that consultants attribute to strong anti-violence applications, enhancements in policing and pandemic restoration, amongst different components. However Mayor Brandon Scott mentioned his administration is “mobilizing each useful resource at our disposal” to proceed these constructive tendencies, together with civil litigation.
Picture: A semi-automatic Glock pistol is fired on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Nationwide Providers Heart, March 2, 2023, in Martinsburg, W.Va. (AP Picture/Alex Brandon, File)
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