Seattle: Another anti-gun city ignores PLCAA, makes Glock its scapegoat

Add Seattle to the list of anti-gun cities and states that want to make Glock and local gun retailers their scapegoats for out-of-control crime. The sleepless city follows Baltimore, Chicago, Minnesota, New Jersey, and — I don't know; I've lost track.

Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison, a Democrat turned RINO Republican, has launched a lawsuit against Glock Inc. and three local retailers, accusing them of choosing to "prioritize profits over public safety."

According to a Sept. 2 news release from the city, the lawsuit was filed in King County Superior Court against Glock Inc. and its Austrian parent company, as well as against three Seattle-area Glock-authorized retailers — Pantel Tactical, Bull’s Eye Indoor Range, LLC, and Rainier Arms, LLC.

From the release:

The civil complaint says Glock knowingly manufactures, markets, and sells semi-automatic handguns that can be converted into illegal machine guns with a device known as a “Glock switch.”

A converted Glock can fire 30 rounds in two seconds — hundreds of rounds per minute — which City Attorney Davison says poses a severe threat to public safety.

“The Glock switch puts the public at risk, it puts children and families at risk, and it puts our law enforcement personnel and first responders at risk,” said City Attorney Davison. “Glock knowingly manufactures a gun that can very easily be converted into an automatic weapon. I will hold corporations putting public safety at risk as accountable as the criminals who violate our state and city laws.”

City Attorney Davison argues that Glock’s manufacturing technique allows a Glock switch user to easily convert a Glock handgun into an illegal machine gun.

Handguns contain a small metal piece known as a “sear” that typically prevents a handgun from immediately firing multiple rounds based on a single trigger pull. Unlike other handguns on the market, the Glock is easily manipulated with the switch to become an automatic weapon.

In the suit, City Attorney Davison 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.

“Unlike its competitors, who choose to use different, safer standards, Glock chooses to prioritize profits over public safety,” said City Attorney Davison. “I’m bringing this litigation because of the massive increase in gun violence caused by converted Glocks. By using this civil remedy – and continuing to use criminal prosecution community-wide – we will fight gun violence both upstream and downstream.”

According to the complaint, "The distribution of Glock firearms within the state has facilitated their conversion and use in criminal activities, leading to a public nuisance and harm to the City."

The news release even includes a convenient diagram to show how it all works.

There's just one problem. Well, two really.

One is that Glock didn't make the switches. In fact, such switches are illegal under the National Firearms Act.

According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Glock switches are classified as machineguns under federal law. Unlike semi-automatic firearms, machineguns — weapons that can fire more than one round without manual reloading, by single function of the trigger — are generally unlawful for non-licensed civilians under the NFA.

So once again, anti-gun politicians want to pin blame on gunmakers for illegal acts committed by others. Then when criminals illegally obtain and use the devices to commit more crimes, it's somehow Glock's and the retailers' fault. It equates to blaming General Motors when a Camaro owner removes a catalytic converter to improve horsepower for a street race.

The second problem is in the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). So even if the switches were legal and had been made by Glock, PLCAA is designed "to prohibit civil liability actions from being brought or continued against manufacturers, distributors, dealers, or importers of firearms or ammunition for damages, injunctive or other relief resulting from the misuse of their products by others."

Seattle-based KOMO News interviewed William Kirk, a local attorney who runs the Washington Gun Law YouTube channel.

Kirk told KOMO reporter Jeremy Harris he thinks the lawsuit "is a waste of time."

“The problem is not the gun manufacturer; the problem is not the lawful and responsible gun owners. The problem is the people who are committing the criminal acts,” he said in the interview.

Kirk's comment holds true for Baltimore, Chicago, and many other anti-gun cities, including some here in Ohio.

Failed policies do not provide safer communities. They only produce scapegoats.

Joe D. "Buck" Ruth, a longtime small-game hunter and gun owner who spent nearly three decades in the news industry, is the website and social-media manager for Buckeye Firearms Association.