Delaware Attorney General Kathleen Jennings announced a civil lawsuit against Glock, Inc. and Glock Ges.m.b.H. on Thursday, October 22, filed under the Keshall “KeKe” Anderson Safe Firearm Sales Act, the Delaware Department of Justice said. The lawsuit was filed in the Court of Chancery, USA Carry reported from the complaint.
Source: Delaware Department of Justice
The state alleges — this is an allegation in a lawsuit, not a court finding — that Glock has knowingly designed, marketed and sold handguns that can be easily converted into illegal machine guns using so-called “Glock switches.” According to the announcement, the design allows a pistol to be transformed into a weapon capable of firing up to 1,200 rounds per minute using inexpensive conversion devices.
Source: Delaware Department of Justice
The complaint outlines what the state calls a dramatic rise in crimes involving switch-modified Glocks in Delaware and nationwide, multiple seizures of illegally converted Glocks in Delaware, and allegations that Glock ignored warnings from federal authorities, declined to redesign its firearms and failed to adopt reasonable controls, the Department of Justice said. It also alleges Glock's own marketing glorified fully automatic fire. ATF figures cited in the complaint say more than 5,400 Glock conversion devices were recovered between 2017 and 2021, a 570 percent jump over the prior five years, USA Carry reported.
Source: USA Carry — complaint summary
“For decades, some gun manufacturers have hidden behind the myth that their industry has no moral consequences, that their stake in our communities ends at the cash register, and that they are neutrals in the war between law enforcement and gun violence. Those days are over,” Jennings said. “Glock knew. They could have acted. They chose profit over people.”
Source: Attorney General Jennings, via Delaware DOJ
The state asserts five causes of action, including violations of Delaware's firearm industry accountability statute and common-law public nuisance, and seeks an injunction barring Glock from distributing easily convertible pistols to civilians in the state, abatement of the alleged nuisance, and restitution and damages, the announcement said. The lawsuit does not affect Glock sales to law enforcement.
Source: Delaware Department of Justice
Two points from the complaint reporting matter for balance: Glock itself does not produce the conversion switches, and possessing a switch is already a felony under Delaware law, USA Carry noted from the complaint. Similar suits have previously been filed by other cities and states. No court has ruled on Delaware's claims, and Glock had not issued a public response in the reports available when this story was prepared; its defence will come in the court proceedings.