In 2024, the City of Chicago filed a lawsuit against gun manufacturer Glock – the maker of some of the world’s most popular pistols for civilian and law enforcement use (including at one point the Chicago Police Department). As with so much litigation against the firearms industry, the suit attempts to blame Glock for the actions of dangerous criminals who misuse their products.
Specifically, Chicago is seeking to hold Glock liable for the fact that criminals use illegal devices (auto sears or so-called “Glock switches”) to illegally modify Glock pistols into illegal machine guns. Taking a similar “blame the product not the criminal” approach, California has banned the sale of certain Glock models and Connecticut and Maryland are moving legislation to do so as of press time.
Despite these jurisdictions’ claims about public safety, it’s hard to see these efforts as anything other than a cynical attack on law-abiding gun owners and manufacturers. That’s because when it comes to unregistered machine gun conversion devices, governments already have extremely powerful tools to address those who misuse these items. They just don’t use them.
In Illinois, 720 ILCS 5/24-1(a)(7) prohibits the sale, manufacture, possession, or carry of a machine gun, including “any combination of parts designed or intended for use in converting any weapon into a machine gun.”
A violation of this provision is a Class 2 felony punishable by three to seven years imprisonment.
Federal law is even harsher, and local officials are welcome to refer cases for federal prosecution.
18 USC 922(o) makes clear, “it shall be unlawful for any person to transfer or possess a machinegun” unless it is done through the National Firearm Registration and Transfer Record. Registration of new machine guns for civilian use was frozen in 1986. Therefore, none of the machine gun conversion devices at issue comply with this mandate. They are all illegal.
Those found in mere possession of a machine gun conversion device face up to 10 years imprisonment. (18 USC § 924(a)(2), 26 USC § 5871).
Now consider the following Chicago case as reported in an April 22 story from CWBChicago.
According to the outlet,
A 16-year-old boy on probation for a gun case, with two more firearm arrests in his background, chased down and killed a Brighton Park man on a neighborhood street last autumn, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Later, the story explained,
At the time of the killing, [the suspect] was serving probation for a prior aggravated assault charge, according to [Assistant State’s Attorney Clara] Malkin. That case stemmed from a March 24, 2024, arrest in which [the suspect] allegedly pointed a gun at someone on a soccer field. During a custodial search, officers recovered a handgun equipped with a switch that allowed it to fire automatically, like a machine gun, and an extended magazine, according to Malkin. [The suspect] was adjudicated delinquent on May 27, 2025, receiving 36 months of probation.
Further,
While that case was pending, [the suspect] was arrested in two more gun cases, Malkin said.
On August 8, 2024, officers allegedly found a loaded .40-caliber handgun with a laser sight under the seat of a car where [the suspect] was sitting. That case was later dismissed as part of a plea agreement.
On November 8, 2024, officers allegedly noticed a heavy bulge in [the suspect] backpack and recovered a 9mm pistol with an extended magazine. Malkin’s detention filing did not specify how that case was resolved.
The article also detailed several non-firearm related arrests in the suspect’s criminal history.
If the facts are as reported, the state’s failure to adequately incapacitate an individual who had a history of misusing firearms, including a machine gun, led to a predictable tragedy.
This isn’t an isolated incident.
Last year, NRA-ILA highlighted a story out of Minneapolis where a suspect was arrested following a traffic stop in which officers found a firearm “equipped with a loaded 33-round extended magazine and a machine gun conversion device.” The suspect was released and then rearrested only three days after the initial incident in connection with a shooting at a high school graduation ceremony.
Law-abiding gun owners are starting to notice that certain jurisdictions are unable to or unwilling to energetically enforce the gun control laws they claim are vital against actual criminals, while imposing never-ending burdens on the upright. In certain areas, and under certain presidential administrations, minor technical violations of the law have been vigorously pursued against otherwise well-meaning individuals. At the same time, social media is replete with videos appearing to show delinquents openly flaunting the type of illegal weaponry these same public officials pursue so vigorously in litigation against gun companies operating in compliance with the law.
The anti-gun jurisdiction lawsuits and legislation targeting Glock pose a real threat to the firearms industry, and to gun owners and their ability to acquire safe and effective firearms to protect themselves and their families. Conversely, given how these jurisdictions have proven disinclined to forcefully address criminals who use illegal machine guns, their haughty public safety rhetoric should be dismissed as farce.
More Like This From Around The NRA
