Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont has officially enacted a prohibition on Glocks and similar models, following suit with California and Maryland. This decision marks the third state to restrict sales of this popular handgun brand.
Now, California, Connecticut, and Maryland have all implemented bans.
California’s ban is set to take effect on July 1, 2026. According to CT Post, Connecticut’s ban will start on October 1, 2026, while Maryland’s will kick in on January 1, 2027.
The language used in all three states references terms like “convertible pistol” and “machine gun convertible pistol” to justify the restrictions. Lawmakers in California, Connecticut, and Maryland initiated these bans largely in reaction to the accessibility of Glock switches, which are already prohibited at the federal level. (These devices allow a Glock to fire in fully automatic mode when attached to the back of the slide.)
In 2024, Chicago and the gun safety group Everytown, linked to Mike Bloomberg, collaborated on a lawsuit targeting Glock, framed partially as a response to the Glock switch issue.
Breitbart News pointed out that the lawsuit from Chicago and Everytown does not detail how much involvement China has had in flooding the U.S. market with these switches.
Peter Schweitzer from Breitbart News has disclosed that a Chinese firm, under stringent government oversight, is providing the U.S. with large numbers of auto sear switches, also known as Glock switches. These tiny metal components can transform handguns into fully automatic firearms, and while illegal for most U.S. gun owners, they are being shipped from China in large quantities.
