MD officials and Baltimore mayor criticize Glock for selling pistols that can be easily converted into machine guns

Maryland Attorney General Antony G. Brown and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott filed a lawsuit against gun manufacturer Glock, Inc. on Wednesday to hold the company accountable for selling semi-automatic handguns that can be converted into illegal machine guns using a “Glock Switch.”

The lawsuit also alleges that Glock manufactures handguns most frequently recovered in connection with crimes on the streets of Baltimore and across the state of Maryland.

“We will not allow the gun industry to turn a blind eye to grieving families and pursue profit over people’s lives. This case shows that our Office will hold members of the firearms industry accountable for their role in the gun violence epidemic,” Brown said. “It is unacceptable for companies to distribute and market a product that they know can easily be modified to inflict terror on communities across Maryland.”

Brown and Scott allege in the lawsuit that Glock endangers and harms public health and safety in Maryland by manufacturing and selling semi-automatic pistols to Maryland civilians, which can easily be converted into machine guns with an auto sear, which is a cheap, small device most commonly known as a “Glock Switch.”

A 3D printed Glock switch can convert a semi-automatic firearm into a machine gun.  (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

Still, the lawsuit claims that between 2023 and 2024, at least 100 illegally modified Glock pistols were recovered from crime scenes and in connection with criminal investigations by the City of Baltimore Police Department.

The plaintiffs are seeking an order preventing Glock from continuing to sell the “easily modifiable” pistols to civilians in Maryland, as well as relief in the form of restitution and abatement.

“Confronting the epidemic of gun violence in our communities means holding everyone responsible, from those pulling the trigger to those making it easier to access — and modify — weapons,” Scott said. “As we continue to achieve historic reductions of homicides and nonfatal shootings in Baltimore, we must continue to redouble our efforts to drive violence down even more.”