lawfare

Chicago has a gang violence problem. That in and of itself is nothing new nor is their unwillingness to actually do something about cracking down on gangs. Now it appears that one of the weapons of choice of violent criminals is the auto-sear equipped Glock handgun.

True or not, the City of Chicago has decided that one way to stop their proliferation is to file a lawsuit. Given many of these “Glock switches” are being smuggled into the US from the People’s Republic of China, it would be logical to file that lawsuit against the Chinese exporters of these illegal auto-sears. Of course, logic has nothing to do with politically motivated lawsuits. Thus, it should not be surprising that Chicago is now suing Glock in Cook County Circuit Court. Nor would you be surprised to learn that Chicago is being assisted in their lawsuit by Everytown Law.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Police Department has recovered over 1,100 Glock pistols equipped with the auto-sear in the last two years. The complaint alleges, “These terrifying weapons have caused death and destruction throughout Chicago: they have been recovered in connection with homicides, aggravated assaults, batteries, kidnappings, burglaries, home invasions, carjackings, and attempted robberies.” One must wonder how many of the criminals found with these auto-sear equipped Glocks were Federally prosecuted for violation of the National Firearms Act of 1934. Undoubtedly, none of these firearms were made before the introduction of the Hughes Amendment in 1986.

The lawsuit is based upon the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act and the City of Chicago Municipal Code Section 2-25-090(a), which prohibits any person from engaging in “any conduct constituting an unlawful act or practice under the [ICFA].” The ICFA was amended in 2023 by the Illinois General Assembly to add firearms to the law.

The lawsuit accuses Glock of knowingly producing pistols, especially those from Gen 1 to Gen 4, that were easy to modify. Glock is also accused of refusing to modify their pistols and of failing to enforce their trademark as many of the auto-sears are marked with the Glock trademarked logo.

By choosing to continue selling and marketing its easily modified pistols to Illinois civilians, including to Chicago non-law-enforcement consumers, and refusing to implement simple changes to its pistol design, Glock has violated numerous obligations under municipal and state law, including by failing to institute reasonable controls and safeguards to prevent the unlawful possession of its pistols, “[k]nowingly creat[ing], maintain[ing], or contribut[ing] to a condition in Illinois that endangers the safety or health of the public by conduct either unlawful in itself or unreasonable under all circumstances,” and engaging in unfair acts.

The lawsuit is filled with hyperbole as the Chicago and Everytown attorneys play to the press.

Here is an example:

Glock continues to sell handguns that are easily modifiable because the demand from the criminal market for Glocks, which can be made into a fully automatic machine gun easily in combination with an auto sear, boosts Glock’s sales and profits. Glock has known for years that criminals, including those who seek to be armed and to inflict violence with outlawed machine guns, are a considerable source of demand and therefore revenue and profit for Glock. Glock further knows that it would sell fewer of its pistols if it lost its consumers who specifically seek out Glocks over other models because of their ease of convertibility to a machine gun.

Even worse, rappers such as Drake, 21 Savage, and Chicago’s own PGF Nuk have created songs that refer to the Glock switch and are even shown in videos holding Glocks equipped with the illegal auto-sear! Oh, my!

The lawsuit accuses Glock of violating the law by a) engaging in the unreasonable sale and marketing of firearms, b) engaging in an unfair practice under the ICFA, c) contributing to a condition that endangers “the health and safety of the public”, d) creating a public nuisance, and e) negligence.

The city is asking for an injunction, an order that Glock take steps to prevent their firearms from being sold where Chicago residents could purchase them, fines, and monetary damages to compensate the city for its costs.

From what I can tell, Glock has not issued a response yet. If I were an attorney for Glock, I would be pushing to have this lawsuit dismissed under the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act and moved to Federal court.

The full complaint is below.