Editorial: Mayor Johnson, you're right to sue Glock

Chicago mayors have long fought the good fight when it comes to trying to get guns off our city’s streets. Some 26 years ago, during the long tenure of Richard M. Daley, Chicago and Cook County filed a $433 million lawsuit against the gun industry (targeting 22 manufacturers), following a Chicago police undercover investigation that found guns purchased in the suburbs were inflicting massive damage on the city.

The suit, which attempted to appropriate some of the language from the previously successful battle against tobacco companies, used the novel argument that the gun industry had created a “public nuisance” by causing massive public-safety costs for Chicago’s hospitals and police and fire departments. Central to the claim was that the gun manufacturers (as well as some stores and distributors) well knew that illegal guns were flooding the city but chose to turn a blind eye.

The effort, which could have been duplicated in other cities had it prevailed, did not succeed. But it was hardly the only attempt over the years. Guns long have been the scourge of Chicago mayors.

Now comes another attempt, this one more targeted and thus perhaps with a better chance of success.

Last Tuesday, Mayor Brandon Johnson announced the city had filed suit against firearms manufacturer Glock on the grounds that it had stood by and done nothing even though it knew its weapons could be turned into illegal machine guns for use on city streets. The suit hones in on something called a “Glock switch,” or an “auto sear.” With one of those evil gadgets, a gangbanger can use a simple screwdriver to convert a semi-automatic pistol to a machine gun. In essence, this little device applies pressure to the gun’s trigger bar so that it is no longer limited to firing one round of ammunition, but can spray hundreds of bullets in rapid succession.

We saw these small, easy to install accessories available on the internet for around $100 (the suit suggests they can be even cheaper), even though the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms considers them an illegal machine gun, in and of themselves. You will not be shocked to know that they are popular in Chicago; the police, who despise Glock switches, have recovered hundreds of them.

Only a fool would believe that Glock does not know this is transpiring. This would appear to be a no-brainer: Glock should make such a conversion impossible.

The obvious defense, of course, will be akin to that often used by tech companies who claim they can’t be held responsible for what others are posting on their sites. No doubt Glock will say in court that all kinds of products get used for purposes not intended by their manufacturers. Sometimes even lethally so. Perhaps a judge will be sympathetic.

We say it should not even get to trial. Glock, whose parent company is based in Deutsch-Wagram, Austria, should do the right thing and actively work to foil any such simple conversion of its guns, which are popular with police departments. They don’t claim to be selling machine guns.

Chicago’s lawsuit alleges that “Glock’s refusal to take reasonable steps to prevent its readily available semiautomatic weapons from being easily converted has made it possible for criminals to arm themselves with fully automatic firepower.”

That would be self-evident. This newspaper has carried many such stories of late. Every one of them sickens us.

The lawsuit also borrows from some of the language in the failed 1998 suit, alleging that Glock’s “actions and failures to act have exacerbated a public safety crisis in Chicago.”

Also self-evident.

Gun control lawsuits often amount to little more than political statements given the U.S. Supreme Court’s strict interpretation of the Second Amendment. This one is well thought out and focused narrowly enough to do some good and maybe even succeed. Good job, Mr. Mayor. Step up and settle this pernicious nonsense, Glock.

___