By Jack Tomczuk
Philadelphia is suing Glock Inc., the popular Austrian firearms manufacturer, for contributing to the city’s gun violence crisis by marketing handguns that could easily be converted into fully automatic weapons.
Instead of firing once for every trigger pull, Glock pistols equipped with “switches,” or automatic sears, can act as machine guns, unloading up to 1,200 bullets a minute, according to the lawsuit, filed jointly by Mayor Cherelle Parker’s administration and District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office.
Switches are cheap and simple to install, the document notes. Though not made by the firm, many come emblazoned with the company’s logo.
Rather than changing its handgun design to prevent the modification, as other gunmakers have done, Glock celebrated the use of automatic firearms and promoted how owners could easily customize their weapons, city attorneys argue.
In a 2018 Instagram post, the company wrote that “the only thing more fun than a GLOCK is a full-auto GLOCK,” alongside a video of someone using a Glock 18, an automatic weapon that is only available for law enforcement and military personnel, the suit says.
Glock’s marketing served to confuse consumers over the legality of automatic weapons and switches, the city alleges. The public is generally forbidden from possessing either.
The complaint, which runs about 100 pages, opens with a description of a shooting that left three people dead and nine others wounded over the Fourth of July weekend last year in Grays Ferry.
Authorities believe a switch was used in that incident as well as the mass shooting that happened at Lemon Hill on Memorial Day 2025, killing two people. Law enforcement also recovered a modified Glock 22 from the scene of a high-profile 2024 Northeast Philadelphia bus stop shooting that injured eight high school students.
“Glock has prioritized profit over the safety of its users and the general public, and it’s time for them to be held accountable under the law for the damage the products they advertise do to human lives,” Parker said in a statement.
Representatives from Glock, which imports its products to the United States through a Georgia-based affiliate, did not respond to a request for comment Sunday.
Philadelphia police have recovered more than 400 handguns equipped with switches used in criminal activity over the past three years, and the “vast majority” were made by Glock, according to the city.
The add-ons have become so popular that they are frequently mentioned in rap songs, including by prominent Philadelphia artist Meek Mill, the suit says.
Attorneys for the city and Krasner’s office assert that Glock’s behavior violated state and local consumer protection laws. They want civil penalties, a court order mandating the company to discontinue certain marketing practices, and the creation of an abatement fund to support those harmed by gun violence.
Glock, the complaint states, should also be forced to issue clear warnings and disclaimers about the use of automatic pistols and switches.
Late last year, the firm stopped producing earlier “generations” of pistols, which were known to be easily equipped with switches. A series of “V” models debuted in 2025, followed by a new Gen6 model in January, according to the complaint.
“It remains to be seen whether these models are as susceptible to switches as previous designs,” the lawsuit states.
The city’s legal team argues that the move was in response to pressure from mounting legal cases. While Philadelphia notified Glock of its pending suit in September 2024, the Parker administration did not detail its allegations in a full complaint until Friday, March 13.