Ellison announces litigation against Glock for ‘easily converted’ gun design

KSTP Staff KSTP

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced what his office is calling “significant litigation” against a major company in the firearms industry on Thursday.

During a press conference, Ellison announced his office would be filing a lawsuit against Glock for its semi-automatic guns, which he says can be easily modified to become machine guns.

“Glock has known about this problem for decades and has done nothing,” Ellison said. “A change of design could prevent these handguns from being turned into illegal automatic weapons, but Glock has turned a blind eye.”

Ellison argued that Glock has continually ignored the threat that modifications like Glock switches and machinegun conversion devices (MCDs) pose on their firearms.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara echoed Ellison’s statements on Thursday, stating that automatic gunfire was not a problem in Minneapolis until August 2020.

O’Hara said the problem is not individuals getting their hands on automatic weapons but instead switches and MCDs.

“We have been prosecuting dozens of people that have been possessing these illegal machineguns, using them in violent crimes, but it’s way too easy for others to do the same,” O’Hara said.

Ellison said the main goal of the lawsuit is for GLOCK to change its designs to prevent switches and MCDs from easily being used on its firearms.

“We’re not trying to stop them from selling guns,” Ellison said. “We’re trying to stop them from selling a design that makes their gun particularly easy to convert.”

The announcement confirms speculation a lawsuit was coming after it was reported in March by 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that Ellison was among a group of 13 attorneys general who had notified Glock of a possible lawsuit in a letter, which said it was easy to turn pistols into machine guns. Click here to read the coalition’s letter.

This isn’t the first time Ellison has taken legal action against companies he believes have violated state gun laws. Previously, he filed a lawsuit against Fleet Farm, which is currently set for trial next May.