Special Agent Kenton Weston holds two Glock handgun slides, one with a machine gun conversion switch, right, and one without, during a demonstration on the danger of such devices that make handguns fully automatic at the Canton Police Department training facility in Canton on Tuesday, July 23, 2024.
San Diego, California – The National Rifle Association is once again taking California to court — this time over the state’s new ban on Glock-style pistols.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in a San Diego court, challenges Assembly Bill 1127, which bars the sale or transfer of certain semi-automatic handguns that can be easily modified into fully automatic weapons. The measure was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom last week and is set to take effect next year.
In a statement, the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action called the law “an attempt to further villainize certain categories of firearms and advance California’s gun ban agenda.” The group argues that the ban violates the Second Amendment and directly contradicts Supreme Court precedent protecting weapons “in common use.”
“Our message to Governor Newsom is simple: we will see you in court,” said NRA-ILA Executive Director John Commerford. “Gavin Newsom and his gang of progressive politicians are continuing their crusade against constitutional rights. This flagrant violation of rights cannot, and will not, go unchecked.”
California lawmakers say the new restriction is meant to address a growing problem: semi-automatic pistols that can be converted into machine guns with inexpensive modifications. The bill targets firearms with “cruciform trigger bars,” which can enable that conversion. “If we know that a simple part turns a legal handgun into an illegal machine gun, we have a responsibility to act,” said Assemblymember Mia Bonta, one of the bill’s sponsors, when the law passed earlier this month.
But gun rights groups argue that the new rule goes far beyond that intention. The NRA, along with the Firearms Policy Coalition and the Second Amendment Foundation, joined the suit as plaintiffs, alongside San Diego County gun store Poway Weapons & Gear and its president, John Phillips, as well as a local resident, Danielle Jaymes.
The plaintiffs claim the law effectively outlaws “one of the most commonly owned handguns in America,” referring to Glock pistols, which are widely used by civilians and law enforcement alike. Brandon Combs, president of the Firearms Policy Coalition, said the law is another example of California overreach. “The Constitution doesn’t allow elitist politicians to decide which guns the people may own,” Combs said. “Every American has the right to choose the tools they trust to defend their lives and liberty.”
For Newsom, the lawsuit is nothing new. California has become the nation’s testing ground for stricter gun laws — and the frequent target of lawsuits from national gun groups. The governor has often said those challenges are part of a broader fight over whether states can take proactive steps to curb gun violence.
“This law is about safety and accountability,” Newsom said last week when signing the bill. “If you can’t sell a weapon designed to be turned into an automatic killing machine, maybe that’s a feature, not a flaw.”
Still, the court battle could prove consequential. If the plaintiffs prevail, it could undermine California’s long-standing strategy of passing aggressive firearms restrictions that test the limits of federal law — a playbook that, until now, has mostly survived judicial review.
