Chicago expands historic lawsuit against Glock to go after parent company, local retailers
CHICAGO - The City of Chicago expanded its "first-of-its-kind" lawsuit against Glock to include the gun manufacturer's parent company and two Chicago-area gun retailers.
The lawsuit, filed in March, claimed Glock "unreasonably" put Chicagoans in danger by manufacturing and selling guns that could easily be converted into illegal machine guns with a cheap device known as a "Glock switch."
Mayor Brandon Johnson's office cited Illinois’ Firearms Industry Responsibility Act, passed and signed into law in 2023, as the footing for the complaint.
The law was created to hold gun companies accountable for conduct that endangers the public.
"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," Johnson said.
The complaint was initially filed by the City of Chicago Law Department in the Cook County Circuit Court on March 19, 2024.
The city filed a two-sentence notice of voluntary dismissal without prejudice Monday, causing some confusion. The lawsuit was refiled on the same day to include Glock Ges.m.b.H, the Austrian Glock entity and part owner of the U.S. Glock subsidiary, and two gun stores on Glock’s roster of preferred dealers, Eagle Sports Range in Oak Forest, Illinois and Midwest Sporting Goods in Lyons, Illinois.
According to the complaint, Glock switches are the size of a quarter and can be easily purchased illegally online for around $20 or made at home using a 3D printer.
The updated complaint reported that Chicago law enforcement continues to find converted Glocks in connection with a wide variety of crimes.
From the beginning of 2021 through May 2024, over 1,300 converted Glocks were recovered – this amounts to one modified Glock recovered on average every day, according to the complaint.
The full complaint filed on July 22 is included below: