City of Chicago sues gunmaker Glock, says its handguns are easy to make more powerful
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The City of Chicago announced Tuesday that it is suing gunmaker Glock - in what it's calling the first of its kind lawsuit in the United States.
The city is alleging the manufacturer of popular handguns is partly to blame for illegal machine guns on the streets of Chicago.
The lawsuit says Glock as a company endangers Chicagoans by selling semi-automatic pistols that can be easily converted to illegal machine guns with a cheap tool called an auto sear – or a "Glock switch."
The city says the suit is the first to use Illinois' new Firearms Industry Responsibility Act. The law was passed and signed into law last year to hold gun companies accountable for violence.
The lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, reports that Chicago law enforcement personnel have recovered more than 1,100 Glocks have been converted into illegal machine guns in just the past two years.
The guns in question have been used in "a wide variety of crimes, including homicides, aggravated assaults, batteries, kidnappings, burglaries, home invasions, carjackings, and attempted robberies," the city said.
The city said its lawsuit claims Glock knows it could fix the problem of its guns being converted to more powerful weapons, but refuses to do so.
The city is seeking a court order to require Glock to stop sales of easy-to-convert handguns to Chicago civilians. The city is also seeking penalties against Glock and damages for the harm it claims Glock has caused to the city.
"The City of Chicago is encountering a deadly new frontier in the gun violence plaguing our communities because of the increase of fully automatic Glocks on our streets," Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a news release. "Selling firearms that can so easily be converted into automatic weapons makes heinous acts even more deadly, so we are doing everything we can in collaboration with others committed to ending gun violence to hold Glock accountable for putting profits over public safety."
"Right now, anyone in the United States with $20 and a screwdriver can convert their Glock pistol into an illegal machine gun in just a few minutes," Eric Tirschwell, executive director of Everytown Law, added in the release. "We intend to hold Glock accountable for the unconscionable decision to continue selling its easily modified pistols even though it could fix the problem, knowing that by refusing to do so it is exacerbating gun violence in Chicago."
The Chicago Law Department has joined with Everytown Law and the firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP in filing the suit.
CBS 2 has reached out to Glock for a response.
