MINNEAPOLIS — A judge has refused to block a lawsuit against the gun manufacturer Glock for devices that convert a semiautomatic handgun into a machine gun with the flip of a switch. Gock had wanted he suit dismissed. Hennepin County Judge Christian Sande said no. Glock had argued unsuccessfully that that the gun clause in the U.S. Constitution permits it to manufacture, market and sell the conversion switches, as well as to equip guns from the factory with the switches. Minnesota’s attorney general, Keith Ellison, called the ruling a “major victory.” He had argued that the Minnesota Deceptive Trades Act forbids harmful devices and holds producers liable. Judge Sande’s ruling allows Ellison’s case against Glock to move forward in the courts.
Verbatim
Ellison: “Gklock has turned s blind eye again and again to the carnage in recent years connected to tiny ‘switch’ devices that can easily convert the company’s semi-automatic handguns into fully-automatic machine guns. Glock has known about this problem for a decade and has done nothing. We’re not asking Glock to stop selling handguns. We’re asking Glock to change its designs so they cannot be converted into illegal machine guns.”