The Brief
The National Rifle Association is suing California over a ban on Glock-style weapons that can be converted to fully automatic firearms.
The ban, which takes effect at the end of the year, has led to increased sales at stores like Red Rifle LTD.
The law aims to reduce mass shootings, but critics argue it won’t stop criminals from obtaining illegal conversion devices.
The National Rifle Association is suing California over a ban on Glock-style weapons with features allowing their conversion to fully automatic weapons. The ban takes effect at the end of this year, so stores like Red Rifle LTD have seen a run on the popular guns.
“We sold out,” says owner Jack Brandhorst. We heard the same from other stores we called. Customers telling us, “It’s a shame, it’s the law-abiding gun owner they are hurting,” referring to politicians behind the ban.
When passed, the law was meant to target the weapons, which have been used in some mass shootings, like the one that resulted in six deaths in Sacramento in 2022. But “you’re not going to stop criminals,” says Brandhorst, explaining that they can find the already illegal switches — that convert guns — out there, even as they have been illegal in the U.S. for some time.
Indeed, the Associated Press reports that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives reported a 570% increase in converted devices collected by law enforcement agencies between 2017 and 2021.
“You can make a switch with a 3D printer, you going to outlaw those too?” says another gun owner we spoke to who believes the ban is just another step in trying to outlaw all weapons, eventually.
The NRA’s lawsuit states that “a law that bans the sale of — and correspondingly prevents citizens from acquiring — a weapon in common use violates the Second Amendment.”
The California ban does go into effect January 1. It does not apply to members of law enforcement, but anyone else who already owns a Glock can keep it. They just can’t sell or transfer it within the state.