(NewsInsights.org)—On March 19, Chicago filed a civil lawsuit against Glock for making and selling firearms that purchasers can buy and might illegally modify to full-automatic fire by adding an auto-sear. The city’s complaint detailed allegations that the company knew for decades that others could modify the guns but chose not to change design parameters to prevent the alterations. In response to the revelations from the complaint, 13 state attorneys general (AGs) and the District of Columbia took aim at Glock in a letter.
New Jersey AG Matthew Platkin led the Tuesday, March 26 effort by AGs from Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and DC to contact Glock’s General Counsel Carlos Guevara to demand that the company “preserve all documents related to” the City of Chicago v. Glock, Inc. lawsuit. The signatories expressed their “deep concern” over several allegations raised in the complaint, and several AGs took turns describing similar events associated with Glock handguns that criminals had modified.
The AGs seemed more aggrieved by the Chicago lawsuit’s revelation that Glock and its management became aware of the aftermarket modifications to the company’s semi-automatic models as early as 1987, seeming to fully understand the potential implications for criminal use of an easily convertible and concealable machine gun.
Yet, the company made no meaningful attempts to redesign its semi-automatic firearms to prevent aftermarket modifications. In their letter, the AGs charged the company with “reckless disregard for public safety” and “choosing
profits over responsible design choices.”
The National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) filed a response to the lawsuit that pointed out that a 2004 Illinois Supreme Court case and the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), a law passed by Congress in 2005, protect gun manufacturers from liability. The advocacy organization stated that US tort specifies that legal authorities cannot hold a person (or company) responsible for a third party’s criminal acts.
The NRA-ILA argued that Glock legally manufactured reliable, rugged, well-engineered firearms used by more than 65% of US law enforcement agencies and over 50 militaries globally. By contrast, switches and auto-sears are illegal in Illinois, and owning the devices carries criminal penalties. Second Amendment advocates maintained that the manufacturer violated no laws and held no responsibility for the criminal acts of others.
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