Glocks are among the most popular handguns sold in California. Even former Vice President Kamala Harris has one. But Californians will no longer be able to buy a new Glock pistol in the state.
Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill banning the sale of new Glock pistols in California.
The problem is that the Glock’s new design makes it easy to modify the gun with a Lego-sized piece of plastic known as the “Glock Switch” that can be 3D printed to turn it into a fully automatic weapon.
Glock “switches” are already illegal, but Democratic lawmakers in California have gone further by passing a bill that falls along party lines, banning the sale of any new weapons with a Glock-like design. The new law does not prohibit the possession of Glocks, nor the resale of used Glocks in California.
Southern California Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel, who introduced Assembly Bill 1127, said he hopes the legislation will force Glock to change its design so that the “switches” no longer work.
“They (Glock) have known about this design flaw for a long time,” Gabriel told CBS News California. “They could help save lives.”
California is the third largest US market for firearms sales. Gun store owner Eddie Ford explained that, unlike some other handguns, Glocks are designed to be customizable. He noted that the Glock’s design remained the same because of “its ultra-reliability.”
Newer model Glocks have an additional piece intended to block the Glock switch. But the California attorney general has not approved this model for sale here.
Ford recognized, realistically, that someone could easily file this added piece in about a minute.
Despite the new law, Ford said California gun stores like his will continue to sell used Glocks, and he doesn’t expect this bill to reduce the number of incidents where Glock switches are used.
“Because there are still millions of Glocks on the streets,” he said. “If the criminals want them, they’ll get them.”
Deborah Grimes lost her only son, Greg “Najee’ Grimes, when he was shot seven times with a modified Glock. Najee was shot and killed at a downtown Sacramento nightclub in 2022. The gunman fired 11 rapid-fire shots into the crowd, seven of which hit Najee.
“If he had been shot maybe once, maybe twice, I think he could have survived that,” Grimes said.
Najee was a star football player, coach and mentor to children with special needs. He is now the reason for Deborah Grimes’ mission at the advocacy group Moms Demand Action.
It was the second mass shooting in the shadow of the California State Capitol in just three months and one of 55 statewide that year.
The shooter used a Glock handgun, modified with a Glock Switch.
“There was too much damage because that Glock switch was a killing machine,” Grimes said of his son’s shooting.
Najee’s murder attracted national attention, although featured on “America’s Most Wanted” while law enforcement was still looking for a suspect. Now her mother hopes her advocacy will have a national impact.
“I hope Glock moves forward to make the (design) change,” Grimes said.
If Glock were to redesign the gun, it could once again be sold in California. However, the current design was grandfathered in before California passed its strict gun certification laws in 2001. A new design would have to go through a lengthy certification process.
AB 1127 was passed by the California legislature on a party-line vote, with all Republican assembly members in opposition.
“By specifically targeting modification potential, this bill disproportionately affects potential Glock buyers and restricts access to one of the most popular handguns available,” Republican lawmakers noted in their analysis of the bill.
Glock did not respond to a request for comment.
