Gun groups sue California over new law regulating 'Glock-style' handguns

SAN DIEGO (CN) — Gun rights advocates claim in a lawsuit that California’s new ban on the sale of “Glock-style” handguns is unconstitutional.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed the law, which targets handguns that can be converted into fully automatic weapons, on Friday.

In the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for Southern California, the plaintiffs describe the new law as “flagrantly unconstitutional,” adding that the type of handgun that is banned is common and among the most popular in the nation.

The Firearms Policy Coalition, National Rifle Association, and Second Amendment Foundation, among others, brought the lawsuit against California Attorney General Rob Bonta.

“The Constitution does not allow elitist politicians to decide which constitutionally protected guns the people may own, and California doesn’t get to tell people that their rights end where Governor Newsom’s tyrannical, anti-Second Amendment politics begin,” Firearms Policy Coalition President Brandon Combs said in a release. “Every American has a right to choose the tools they trust to defend their lives and liberty. We look forward to ending this insanely unconstitutional scheme just as we have many others.”

Assembly Bill 1127, coauthored by Assemblymembers Jesse Gabriel, a Democrat from Encino, and Catherine Stefani, a San Francisco Democrat, targets what it calls “machinegun-convertible pistols,” which are handguns that can be converted into automatic weapons. Through the use of 3-D printing, handgun owners are able to convert these types of handguns from semiautomatic to fully automatic.

“The California Department of Justice will continue to defend our commonsense gun laws,” the attorney general’s press office said in a statement on Tuesday night. “Beyond that we will respond as appropriate in court.”

The law prohibits the sale of handguns that utilize a “cruciform trigger bar,” which includes Glocks. The National Rifle Association saidthe law is “an attempt to further villainize certain categories of firearms and advance California’s gun ban agenda.” Though it does not mention the gun manufacturer by name, the NRA said the objective of the legislation is a “complete ban on Glock platform firearms in California."

Among the plaintiffs is Poway Weapons & Gear, a San Diego County gun range and retailer that has sold thousands of the soon-to-be prohibited handguns with cruciform trigger bar since opening in 2011.

Citing the U.S. Supreme Court decision in* District of Columbia v. Heller* , the NRA said that “common arms” can’t be banned under the Second Amendment.

The new law’s proponents see it differently.

“No gun sold in California should be just a screwdriver away from becoming a machine gun,” Stefani said in a statement after the governor signed the bill. “California is sending a clear message: we will always put the safety of our families ahead of the gun industry’s bottom line.”

The new law takes effect on July 1, 2026. The lawsuit was filed Monday.

The plaintiffs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.