Maryland and Baltimore officials sue Glock over ‘easily modifiable’ pistols

• Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott are suing Glock Inc. over its “easily modifiable” pistols. These pistols can be converted into machine guns using a simple attachment called a switch.
• The lawsuit claims these modifications contribute to rising crime in Baltimore, especially among youth.
• It cites a significant increase in recovered switch attachments, from 33 in 2023 to over 65 in 2024.

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Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott are suing weapons manufacturer Glock Inc. According to Scott, Glock produces a handgun that can be easily turned into a machine gun with an attachment called a switch, which is linked to crime in the Baltimore area.

“These attachments, primarily used on Glock weapons and ghost guns, are able to turn a basic firearm into an illegal, automatic machine gun that could fire as fast or faster than military-grade firearms,” Scott said during a news conference on Zoom.

Scott said the switches on what he calls “easily modifiable Glock weapons” are being used to carry out criminal activity.

According to the lawsuit, a Glock switch allows a shooter “to toggle between semiautomatic and fully automatic firing modes.”

In 2023, Scott said Baltimore law enforcement recovered 33 switch attachments from crime scenes, compared to more than 65 in 2024.

“By failing to implement reasonable control to prevent illegal modification and prioritizing profits over safety, Glock has knowingly contributed to this rising issue and jeopardized the safety of our neighborhoods, our citizens, and our law enforcement officers,” Scott said.

Meanwhile, Scott said homicides in Baltimore are down 30% compared to the same time last year.

The lawsuit states Glock could fix the problem but has not taken action. It also points to a statistic involving Baltimore’s youth: Approximately half of the people arrested in connection with incidents involving modified Glocks were under the age of 21.

The lawsuit is the first to be filed in Maryland using the state’s new Gun Industry Accountability Act, which was enacted into law last year.

The law bans firearm industry members from knowingly creating or contributing to a public nuisance through the sale, manufacture, distribution, importation or marketing of a firearm-related product in certain situations.

The plaintiffs want an order stopping Glock from selling easily modifiable pistols to civilians in Maryland, along with restitution and abatement.

Glock has not responded to the lawsuit.