Gunmaker Glock discontinuing models amid ‘switch’ lawsuits nationwide
Austrian gunmaker Glock is discontinuing many of its widely-owned models amid lawsuits seeking millions of dollars and legislation limiting availability of the popular firearms. The gunmaker confirmed it would unveil a new model that doesn’t accept “switches,” an after-market component that allows for fully automatic fire.
A spokesperson for the gunmaker confirmed earlier reports to firearms website Pew Pew Tactical on Tuesday. While the company told the outlet that the changes were to “establish a baseline of products while simplifying our processes,” the new “V” models replacing the discontinued guns will notably remove a source of controversy.
An auto sear, commonly referred to as a switch, can be purchased or 3D-printed and quickly installed to the rear of a Glock handgun as well as other lesser-known guns that have a cruciform trigger bar. The switch allows a shooter to toggle the gun between semiautomatic and fully automatic fire, meaning continuous discharge of a magazine’s rounds with one trigger pull.
Glock’s website listed the nearly two-dozen models and their variants that it would discontinue.
“In order to focus on the products that will drive future innovation and growth, we are making a strategic decision to reduce our current commercial portfolio,” reads a Q&A on the discontinuations. “This streamlined approach allows us to concentrate on continuing to deliver the highest-quality and most relevant solutions for the market.”
California takes action
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1127 on Friday, Oct. 10. The new law bans the sale or transfer of handguns with a “cruciform trigger bar,” the gun component found in Glock-brand handguns. It’s unclear whether the discontinued models were the only ones that were commonly converted with the aftermarket pieces.
Authorities say a handgun converted with a switch was used in a 2022 gang-related shooting in Sacramento that left six dead and more than a dozen wounded.
Ownership of an auto sear is already illegal in California. So is ownership of a fully automatic firearm. The switch devices are classified as machine guns by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The latest bureau data shows more than 4,500 switches seized in 2023.
Firearms dealers and advocacy organizations filed a lawsuit to stop the law days after it was signed. The lawsuit claims AB 1127 violates the Second Amendment. A 2008 landmark court ruling granted broad federal protections to guns that are “commonly used” at the time a restriction is enacted.
“The Constitution does not allow elitist politicians to decide which constitutionally protected guns the people may own, and California doesn’t get to tell people that their rights end where Governor Newsom’s tyrannical, anti-Second Amendment politics begin,” said Firearms Policy Coalition President Brandon Combs. “Every American has a right to choose the tools they trust to defend their lives and liberty.”
Lawsuits
Glock is facing several lawsuits tied to the ease in which users can modify their handguns to shoot fully automatic.
A judge in New Jersey on Tuesday, Oct. 14, denied a motion to dismiss a case against the gunmaker, allowing the suit filed by Attorney General Matthew Platkin to move forward.
Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison filed a similar lawsuit against Glock in September.
A district judge in August allowed a case filed by the state of Minnesota against the gunmaker to proceed.
A judge gave a similar ruling in Cook County, allowing the City of Chicago to move forward with its lawsuit against the company. Mayor Brandon Johnson has claimed police there have recovered more than 1,300 switches, according to ABC7.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
