The City of Seattle, Washington has jumped aboard the lawsuit train, following Baltimore, Maryland, Chicago and the states of Minnesota and New Jersey, filing a lawsuit against Glock, Inc., and three Washington-based firearms retailers.
The issue: Glock’s alleged continued production of pistols which are being illegally converted by unknown third parties by the use of a device called a “Glock switch,” thus allowing the pistols to be fired full-auto. Seattle’s legal action, and similar previous lawsuits, assert Glock is aware of the problem but has refused to make design changes which would prevent the use of the switches.
According to an announcement Tuesday by office of Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison, she “is asking the court to require Glock to change its handguns to prevent conversion to automatic fire with the easy application of a Glock switch.”
“I’m bringing this litigation because of the massive increase in gun violence caused by converted Glocks,” Davison said in her prepared statement. “By using this civil remedy – and continuing to use criminal prosecution community-wide – we will fight gun violence both upstream and downstream.”
Davison’s office says city-wide, the number of shell casings retrieved at crime scenes by Seattle Police climbed from 2,514 in 2020 to 5,746 in 2023.
Unintentionally, Davison’s lawsuit amounts to an indictment of Seattle’s failed gun control policies and those of Washington State, including a Seattle tax on the sale of firearms and ammunition in the city, which was adopted ten years ago as a tool to reduce gun-related violent crime. The tax has been upheld by the state Supreme Court.
The 61-page lawsuit was filed in King County Superior Court. In addition to Glock, the complaint names Bull’s Eye Indoor Range (Tacoma), Pantel Tactical (Renton) and Rainier Arms (Auburn), all limited liability corporations, and none of which are located in Seattle. All three are identified as Glock “authorized dealers.”
According to KIRO News, the CBS affiliate in Seattle, police in the city started tracking the use of Glock switches, “finding them in at least 20 incidents in 2023 and 38 incidents in 2024.”
“One of the most devastating examples came in May,” KIRO reported, “when three people were killed in Pioneer Square in a shooting investigators believe involved converted Glock firearms.”
Earlier this year, Reuters reported that Maryland and the City of Baltimore had sued Glock, alleging a converted Glock pistol was capable of firing up to 1,200 rounds per minute. That state’s action was “the first test of Maryland’s Gun Industry Accountability Act adopted last year,” Reuters said.
As noted back in April by Stateline,org, other states have enacted bans on “Glock switches.” The story mentioned Alabama, New Mexico Virginia and Mississippi.
“Gun conversion devices have become a rare point of bipartisan agreement on gun policy,” the Stateline report said.
Among the lawsuit’s allegations are that “Between 2017 and 2021, Glock 9mm pistols were the most frequently recovered crime gun in Washington. Glock manufactured 31% of the 7,372 crime guns recovered in the state during this period.”
The lawsuit further asserts, “ATF reports that the top two most frequently recovered crime guns between 2017 and 2021 in the City were made by Glock. Glock manufactured 40% of the 1,112 crime guns recovered in the City during this period.”
Later, the city describes a Glock Switch as “a type of auto sear that converts semi-automatic Glock handguns into fully automatic weapons.” It says these devices are made from metal or plastic, and are roughly the size of a dime.”
Further, the complaint says Seattle police have recovered converted Glocks used in crimes that were sold by the three retailers named in the lawsuit.
While the lawsuit criticizes Glock—both the company and the firearms—it doesn’t address the irony that Glock pistols are carried by Seattle police, King County Sheriff’s deputies, and police officers in various jurisdictions up and down the entire Interstate 5 corridor. Indeed, Glock pistols may be the most widely used handgun in American law enforcement today.
The lawsuit mentions incidents involving pistols allegedly fitted with the controversial switches in Tacoma, Lynnwood and Seattle involving suspects as young as 13 and 14 years old, who are prohibited by current Washington law from possessing or carrying handguns.
The lawsuit seeks “actual and compensatory damages,” “reasonable attorney’s fees and costs,” and “pre-judgment and post-judgment interest.
Seattle Sues Glock and 3 Washington Gun Retailers over ‘Glock Switches’ by AmmoLand Shooting Sports News
About Dave Workman
Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.
