City of Seattle sues gun stores in Auburn and Renton over Glock sales

The City of Seattle is suing the firearm manufacturer Glock, alongside a gun shop in Renton and a gun shop in Auburn, for allegedly selling and promoting Glock pistols that people can convert to machine guns through the installation of an attachment.

Seattle filed the lawsuit Sept. 2 against the company Glock, alongside Rainier Arms, 2504 Auburn Way N. in Auburn, and Pantel Tactical, 16926 116th Ave. SE in Renton, for allegedly selling and marketing Glock pistols, thereby contributing to the nuisance of crimes committed with Glock pistols that people illegally convert to shoot rapidly with one trigger pull.

The suit also alleges that Glock has made pistols that are easy to convert to fully automatic firearms, Glock knows about the problem but does not fix it, Glock profits from illegally converted firearms, and markets and promotes fully automatic firearms.

According to the lawsuit, Glock intentionally refuses to make its pistols safer by doing things such as making the firearms more difficult to convert to fully automatic firearms. According to the lawsuit, Glock created the Glock 46, a firearm that cannot be modified with the auto sear commonly used in the United States. However, this gun is limited to law enforcement in Europe and is not marketed or sold in the U.S.

According to the lawsuit, Glock pistols are converted to shoot rapidly through the installation of an auto sear, commonly referred to as “Glock switches” or a “switch,” that can cost less than $50. Switches are often 3D-printed or imported and can easily be installed.

The lawsuit states that a modified Glock can shoot 1,200 rounds a minute, and despite Washington state law not allowing the sale or import of gun magazines with more than 10 bullets, illegal magazines with 50 rounds or more can be illegally imported from other states. According to the lawsuit, a converted Glock could fire 50 rounds in less than five seconds.

According to the lawsuit, Rainier Arms and Pantel Tactical are authorized Glock Dealers who contribute to the public nuisance of Glocks with switches by placing additional Glocks into the local gun trade. The lawsuit states that Rainier Arms includes a step-by-step guide on its website for modifying the Glock by changing components of the gun, such as slide cover plates, adding alternative barrels, trigger modifications and compensators that allow for quicker and easier followup shots.

According to the lawsuit, Rainier Arms has promoted fully automatic firearms on its social media pages and has sold at least one Glock that was sold and then was then converted or attempted to be converted to an automatic weapon that was later recovered by Seattle Police. The lawsuit alleges that Pantel Tactical has also sold at least one Glock that was later converted or attempted to be converted to an automatic weapon.

According to the lawsuit, in September 2023, the Seattle Police Department recovered a converted Glock from a burglary suspect, and it was later found to have been sold by Rainier Arms. In May 2024, the Seattle Police Department recovered a converted Glock that was used in a shooting in West Seattle, and it was later found to have been sold by Pantel Tactical.

Glock crime stats

According to the lawsuit, between 2019 and 2023, the top three guns most frequently traced by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) were all made by Glock. According to the lawsuit, Glock firearms accounted for over 74% of crime guns recovered between 2019 and 2023.

The lawsuit states that between 2017 and 2021, Glock 9mm pistols were the most frequently recovered crime guns in Washington. The lawsuit states that Glock manufactured 31% of the 7,372 crime guns recovered in Washington state between 2017 and 2021.

Regarding guns converted to full automatic firearms, according to the lawsuit, the ATF reported that the number of machine gun conversion devices recovered in crimes between 2019 and 2023 increased by more than 784%. The ATF reported recovering over 11,000 auto sear devices between 2019 and 2023.

“Unlike its competitors, who choose to use different, safer standards, Glock chooses to prioritize profits over public safety,” Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison said. “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.”

Photo of how a Glock switch works. Screenshot from the lawsuit