Pro-Second Amendment organizations filed suit Thursday to block New York’s ban on Glock pistols, saying it violated the right to keep and bear arms.
Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the ban into law as part of the state’s budget in May, becoming the fourth state to ban the popular pistols over illegal conversions to full-auto firing. The National Rifle Association (NRA), Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced the effort, saying the measure was barred by the Supreme Court’s 2008 Heller decision.
“Glock and Glock-style pistols, themselves, are not relevantly different from any other ordinary semiautomatic handgun. That is true even though they may be illegally modified,” the complaint filed by the pro-Second Amendment groups said. “What is more, these pistols are in common use; indeed, they are among the most popular firearms in the nation. Yet if the Act is enforced, ordinary New Yorkers will be relegated to a shrinking secondary market made up of only those pistols possessed before the law’s effective date.”
“That is a handgun ban. The fact that the ban targets only one category of popular handguns does not make it constitutional,” the complaint continued.
The Supreme Court invalidated Washington, D.C.’s handgun ban after ruling that the Second Amendment protected an individual right to keep and bear arms in the Heller vs. District of Columbia decision, saying the Second Amendment protects arms that are “in common use.”
Glock pistols are widely recognized for their popularity in the United States among civilians and law enforcement agencies and are frequently listed among top-selling firearms by publications such as Guns and Guns and Ammo magazine. According to a 2018 press release issued by the company, the Glock 19X model achieved sales of over 100,000 units within the first six months following its introduction.
A spokesperson for Hochul referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to Friday X post when reached for comment.
The Glock was pushed by anti-Second Amendment lawmakers to address so-called “Glock switches” that illegally convert Glock pistols into machine guns. According to current federal law, the possession or manufacture of fully-automatic firearms is prohibited unless the firearm is registered or approved by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) pursuant to the National Firearms Act of 1934.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation’s RightSideofLegal.org website notes that having a machine-gun conversion device can lead to ten years in federal prison and up to a $250,000 in fines.
“These handguns, like all handguns, are ‘arms’ within the scope of the plain text of the Second Amendment,” the complaint says. “And there is no history of regulation that justifies the ban. Indeed, because the handguns banned by New York are in common use, under Heller, they cannot be banned.”
Other state bans on the hugely popular pistols have been challenged in court, with pro-Second Amendment groups suing to block Maryland’s ban. The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division sued to prevent California’s Glock ban from taking effect.
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