On November 3, Eric Tirschwell, Executive Director and Chief Litigation Counsel for Everytown Law, sent a long missive to Sarah Colbert, the general counsel for Sturm, Ruger & Co. In his letter, Tirschwell speculated Ruger’s new RXM pistol might be susceptible to conversion to automatic fire like Glocks, because they have similar fire control groups, including cruciform trigger bars.
As would be expected from an Everytown flack, Tirschwell’s speculations were completely unsupported by anything but unattributed chatroom comments. Unlike the Glock 18, developed at the request of the Austrian counter-terrorism police agency, there has never been even a hint of a select-fire version of the RXM.
Tirschwell copied his letter to Connecticut Attorney General William Tong. A week later, on November 10, Tong emailed a four-page letter to Ms. Colbert, adding teeth to Everytown’s speculations.
“I have grave concerns with Ruger’s design and marketing practices, and I will not hesitate to enforce our laws when they are violated. I request, therefore, a statement from Ruger as to what it intends do with the RXM. I hereby further request that Ruger preserve for future production all documents in your custody and control from January 1, 2020, to the present, related to:
“1. The conversion of Ruger semiautomatic handguns into automatic weapons through the use of machine gun conversion devices, “switches,” or similar modifications, including but not limited to documents related to the prevalence, use in crime or violence, or public safety impact of such converted semiautomatic handguns of any manufacturer, including but not limited to Glock and Ruger;
“2. The design and development of Ruger’s pistols with respect to their semiautomatic function, including but not limited to documents relating to the ease with which they could be made to function automatically, whether Ruger took or considered action to reduce that functionality through design changes or alternatives;
“3. Your knowledge about all state and federal laws relating to the firearms industry, including MCDs or switches and converted Glock and Ruger machine guns, your legal responsibility as a manufacturer of guns that can be converted using MCDs, and whether or not you complied with such laws and upheld such responsibility;
“4. Financial information relating to Ruger pistols, including profit, manufacturing costs, and distribution costs, as well as the costs of developing and/or implementing any alternative design choices that were available or considered;
“5. Any communications, including documents and drafts of documents related to marketing or advertising related to Ruger pistols, including any reference to representations about their supposed safety, lethality, modularity, compatibility with off-the-shelf components or accessories, semiautomatic function or the speed at which they fire;
“6. Any correspondence with ATF or other law enforcement, concerning the RXM, including but not limited to testing reports regarding the RXM.
“7. Communications about and with the firearm accessory manufacturer Magpul related to the design, marketing and advertising of the RXM;
“8. Your knowledge of the ability of pistols to be converted to automatic firearms with the addition of MCDs or switches, of the increasing prevalence of such conversion and of Glock’s pistol designs, marketing, sales and financial information, including but not limited to their ability to be converted to machine guns via MCDs or switches;
“9. Your knowledge of and response to reports in October 2025 that Glock intends to change its pistol designs.”
This is a fishing trip: A demand for evidence of something that hasn’t happened and shows no indication of being seriously considered by anyone, especially not Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. It’s an abuse of the legal system to achieve a political goal through blackmail. They’re still trying to make good on Andrew Cuomo’s 1998 threat of “death by a thousand cuts” as legal costs would drive companies into bankruptcy.
How much will Ruger spend to comply with the AG’s rather expansive demand? Attorney General Tong and his crew are paid for out of the public purse; Ruger’s expenses come off the company’s bottom line.
Passage of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act hasn’t prevented state legislatures and attorneys general from trying end runs around the PLCAA and Democrats loudly claim it is some sort of blanket immunity from all legal actions. A look at the history of the Sandy Hook court actions will show how many angles were tried.
These practices need to end. Legal standards for vicarious, or imputed, liability require a clear link between a civil defendant and the party which caused the action. Furthermore, any tort action requires that the suing party must have actually been harmed. Exactly none of these requirements have been satisfied here (they haven’t been met in Glock’s case, either).
This is vicious liability: Alleging “possible” future injury caused by “possible” future criminal actions committed by individuals having no connection whatsoever to the party being sued. It costs states and cities virtually nothing to file frivolous lawsuits and there is no penalty when they are dismissed.
Compare that to the costs of compliance and defense borne by the gun company. Even if they win, they lose. These costs are the “death by a thousand cuts” mentioned by Cuomo nearly three decades ago.
Barratry is an offense based on repeated or vexatious filings of frivolous legal actions, especially lawsuits filed with no real expectation of prevailing. Barratry is old offense and only a handful of states still have sanctions on the books and they are generally misdemeanors.
Congress needs to bring barratry back. It should invoke its powers under the Commerce Clause and amend the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act to add a stipulation the loser pays all costs, without exception, incurred by the winner.
One final note: I hope Ruger finally gets the hint and relocates out of Connecticut. It’s incorporated in Delaware, so there’s no need to redomicile.
About Bill Cawthon
Bill Cawthon first became a gun owner 55 years ago. He has been an active advocate for Americans’ civil liberties for more than a decade. He is the information director for the Second Amendment Society of Texas.
