Dr. John Lott has a new op-ed at Real Clear Politics.
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California’s new ban on Glock handguns takes effect on July 1. It is a new tactic for gun control advocates. Instead of trying to ban all handguns, a growing number of Democratic-led states are targeting one of the most commonly owned handguns in America – Glocks – on the grounds that criminals can easily convert them into machine guns. But even gangs rarely use these conversions, for a simple reason: They are extremely difficult to control and can be just as likely to injure the shooter as the intended target.
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In May, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont joined California in signing laws that prohibit the manufacture, sale, purchase, and transfer of firearms containing a cruciform trigger bar. The cruciform trigger bar is a critical internal component in semi-automatic pistols, particularly Glock and Glock-style firearms. Named for its cross-shaped design, it links the trigger to the firing mechanism and plays an essential role in the firearm’s safety and firing sequence.
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Lawmakers in Illinois and New York are also actively considering similar bans. Meanwhile, New Jersey has entered the discovery phase of litigation seeking to subpoena Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) across the state for records involving Glock pistol sales to New Jersey residents.
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Almost immediately, lawsuits were filed challenging these laws. Beginning with District of Columbia v. Heller, the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the Second Amendment protects “bearable arms” that law-abiding citizens commonly possess for lawful purposes. The court distinguished those firearms from “dangerous and unusual” weapons and ruled that governments cannot ban firearms in common use, such as handguns.
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More than 65% of U.S. police departments issue or authorize Glock handguns for their officers. In 2025, Glock produced three of the six best-selling semi-automatic handguns in the United States, while Sig Sauer produced two of the top six.
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Indeed, during the 2024 presidential campaign, former Vice President Kamala Harris openly touted her ownership of a Glock for self-defense, telling interviewers that she would shoot anyone who broke into her house. “I have a Glock, and I’ve had it for quite some time,” Harris told CBS’s 60 Minutes.
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Federal law has already prohibited civilians from manufacturing or converting firearms into machine guns since 1986. Twenty-six states have enacted similar prohibitions. No evidence suggests that law-abiding gun owners are converting their handguns. Even supporters of these new laws focus on criminal gangs. The use of these switches is also quite rare. Since January 2021, the Crime Prevention Research Center, which I head, has identified only 20 U.S. attacks involving Glock switches. Those attacks resulted in 43 murders, and all were tied to gang shootings.
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States advancing these bans argue that Glock knowingly designed and marketed pistols that criminals can easily convert into illegal machine guns with so-called “Glock switches.” They claim that Glock has known about the problem for years, ignored repeated warnings from law enforcement, and refused to redesign its pistols to make such conversions more difficult.
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Glock disputes those allegations. The company argues that its pistols are no easier to convert than many other modern semiautomatic handguns. Glock pistols use the same basic short-recoil, locked-breech operating system found throughout the handgun industry. Glock also argues that criminals – not manufacturers – bear responsibility for illegally modifying firearms with already-prohibited conversion devices.
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Moreover, a Glock switch creates a firing mechanism that differs fundamentally from a true machine gun. Military machine guns rely on integrated fire-control systems specifically engineered for automatic fire. A Glock switch, by contrast, interferes with the pistol’s trigger-bar and reset mechanism. It forces the trigger bar out of engagement and causes the pistol’s short-recoil action to cycle uncontrollably. Once the shooter pulls the trigger, the firearm continues firing until it exhausts its ammunition.
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That crude modification creates serious reliability and safety hazards. By bypassing the pistol’s timing and reset functions, the switch can allow the firearm to discharge before the slide and chamber fully close and lock. The result is a substantial risk of catastrophic malfunction, damage to the firearm, and serious injury to the shooter.
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Common failures include blown-out magazines, cracked or split frames and receivers, damaged bolts, broken firing pins, extractors, ejectors, operating springs, and stocks.
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Flying brass fragments and case shards can cut or puncture the shooter’s hands, arms, face, and shoulders. In documented incidents, brass has sliced a shooter’s thumb open “like a box cutter,” accompanied by powder burns, while other fragments have embedded in shoulders and caused significant bleeding. Debris can also strike the shooter’s face and eyes.
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The danger extends beyond the shooter. As Richland County, South Carolina, Sheriff Leon Lott warned: “The problem about that is when you pull the trigger, you can’t stop it, the gun, the bullets are going to go and what we’re seeing is young people and adults can’t control their gun. … You may hit a lot of innocent people, you may even hit people that’s on your team because you can’t control that gun.”
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These laws do not target criminals who already violate federal and state laws by possessing illegal conversion devices and using them in violent crimes. Instead, they target millions of law-abiding Americans who own one of the nation’s most popular handguns. If courts allow states to ban Glocks because criminals can illegally modify them, the same rationale could apply to virtually any semiautomatic firearm. The better solution is to prosecute the gangs and criminals who use Glock switches – not to outlaw firearms that police officers and private citizens have relied on safely for decades.
John R. Lott, Jr., “CA Lawmakers Seek To Ban Popular Handguns,” Real Clear Politics, June 26, 2026.
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