California Responds to DOJ Lawsuit Over Glock Ban

California has reacted to the Department of Justice’s lawsuit regarding the state’s Glock ban, emphasizing concerns about unlawful modifications to the handgun’s action, which it deems “dangerous and unusual.”

On July 1, 2026, the DOJ officially filed the lawsuit coinciding with the implementation of the ban.

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Harmeet Dhillon, had previously cautioned Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta that legal action would follow if the ban moved forward.

Bonta, in response to the DOJ lawsuit, devoted considerable time to discussing the issue of converting Glock semi-automatic actions into fully automatic ones using illegal switches. After addressing the risks posed by full-auto weapons, Bonta noted:

…even after that, the Ninth Circuit upheld that machine guns are dangerous and unusual weapons which do not fit within the Second Amendment because they “can fire more than 1,000 rounds per minute and can kill dozens of people within seconds.”

It’s crucial to recognize that all handguns are inherently “dangerous,” a fact that gun safety education emphasizes. Additionally, Glock handguns are prevalent and are certainly not “unusual.” They rank among the most commonly owned firearms in the United States.