The city of Chicago announced on Tuesday that it filed a lawsuit against Glock, one of the most popular handgun manufacturers, accusing the company of endangering residents by continuing to sell firearms that can easily be turned into illegal machine guns.
The city is asking the Circuit Court of Cook County to block the sale of Glock pistols that can be modified, as well as a “reasonable sum of money” to compensate the city for damages from related gun violence.
According to the 41-page lawsuit, authorities in Chicago have recovered over 1,100 Glock firearms in the past two years that had been illegally altered with a quarter-sized modification called a “switch” or “auto sear.”
These auto-sears can be purchased online or manufactured using a 3D printer. They enable handguns to fire at up to 1,200 rounds per minute, the lawsuit states — a rate as fast or faster than many fully automatic weapons used in the U.S military.
Everytown Law, an organization of litigators affiliated with the gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety, is assisting the city of Chicago with the lawsuit.
“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,” Everytown Law executive director Eric Tirschwell said in a statement announcing the suit.
The city alleged that Glock has been aware of the potential dangers that these modifications pose for years, but has not taken “any meaningful action to address” the problem.
“Instead of taking reasonable action to put an end to the modification of
its pistols by civilians, Glock has made the business decision to continue profiting from the sales of its easily modifiable guns to the civilian market,” the lawsuit reads.
The city is now asking for the company to take “reasonable controls, safeguards, and procedures” to prevent modifiable pistols from being sold to Chicago residents, aside from members of law enforcement.
Glock did not immediately respond to a request for comment from HuffPost.
Everytown cited Illinois as among the strongest in gun safety laws in the country, with low levels of gun ownership, but the state nonetheless continues “to experience an unacceptable rate of gun violence.”