Glock has been selling reliable, accurate, basically bomb-proof polymer-framed, striker-fired pistols in the United States for over 30 years. In fact, they’ve sold so many of them that you’d be hard pressed to go to a pistol range in a free state and not see at least a handful in use.
That fact, however, hasn’t stopped anti-gun advocates from hating the Glock. And the most dangerous city in the country put that hatred to good use last week by suing the handgun company because criminals have figured out how to convert the semi-auto pistols to fire full auto.
“A hundred years ago, the Thompson submachine gun, also known as the Tommy gun, was the go-to weapon for Chicago criminals,” the lawsuit states. “In 1931, the public outcry in response to this violence led Illinois to prohibit machine guns, followed shortly thereafter by national regulation of machine guns. Unfortunately, the machine gun has returned as a weapon of choice for criminals in Chicago—this time in the form of a Glock pistol, which can be easily modified into a machine gun using a simple, quarter-sized device called an auto sear.”
If you’re thinking, “What a crock!” then we’re thinking along the same lines. Anyone who knows anything about guns is aware that modifying a semi-auto firearm to function where it fires multiple rounds with one pull of the trigger produces what is defined as a “machine gun,” and possession of that illegal machine gun carries a penalty of 10 years in federal prison, along with a $150,000 fine.
The lawsuit also claims: “While Chicago has long struggled with an epidemic of gun violence, it is unquestionable that the ease of modification of Glocks and the resulting prevalence of Modified Glocks have made the situation worse. Criminals armed with Modified Glocks are emboldened because of their military-grade firepower, and they kill and injure more people, increasing the terror felt by ordinary Chicagoans. According to one ATF agent, the use of guns equipped with auto sears is ‘one of the scariest things’ the agency has dealt with in decades.”
Interestingly, Chicago leaders almost hit the nail on the head here by almost admitting that criminals are the problem. In fact, it is violent criminals committing serious felonies that are converting Glocks, then using them to attack rival gang members on Chicago’s mean streets.
In its conclusion, the lawsuit asks the court to make several declarations against Glock that would certainly cripple the company, including, “enjoining Glock from marketing and selling pistols that can easily be converted to fully automatic to Chicago non-law-enforcement consumers via its website and Illinois gun stores that serve the Chicago market; ordering Glock to implement reasonable controls, safeguards and procedures to prevent its easily converted pistols from being possessed, used, marketed or sold unlawfully to non-law-enforcement consumers in Chicago and by Illinois gun stores that serve the Chicago market; awarding damages against Glock for a reasonable sum of money that will fairly compensate the City for its damages; awarding judgment against Glock for a sum of money that will allow the City to abate the nuisance that Glock has created; awarding fines against Glock under MCC § 2-25-090 and MCC § 1-20-060; ordering Glock to disgorge profits obtained through unlawful conduct; awarding the City pre- and post-judgment interest, to the extent allowable; awarding the City exemplary damages; and awarding the City its costs of investigation and suit, including any reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs.”
As most TTAG readers are aware, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) was passed back in 2005 to prevent just frivolous lawsuits just like this one in which gunmakers are blamed for criminal misuse of their safe, legally made, lawfully marketed products. Alas, Chicago leaders, in their attempt to blame runaway violent crime in the city on something other than their own malfeasance, seem to care little about such laws.
The real answer to the problem would be to arrest, convict and jail the violent criminals shooting each other on a daily basis on the streets of Chicago. Alas, that solution just doesn’t jive with the politics of Chicago’s leaders, leaving everyone in the city more imperiled as a result.