Seattle (Sept. 2, 2025) – Today, Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison filed a lawsuit in King County Superior Court against gun manufacturer Glock, Inc., and its Austrian parent company Glock GES.m.b.H.
Three Seattle-area Glock-authorized gun retailers – Pantel Tactical, Bull’s Eye Indoor Range, LLC, and Rainier Arms, LLC — are also named in the suit.
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.”
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.
SPD has also started tracking the recovery of Glock switches, which went from one or more in 20 separate 2023 incidents to 38 incidents in 2024. Last May, three people murdered in Pioneer Square died from shots likely fired from converted Glock firearms.
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