Legal/Law/Criminal Justice and Reform

DOJ Turns Up Heat On California After Judge Blocks Glock Ban

(Flickr/California Governor)

Attorneys with the Justice Department filed a notice with a federal judge in California Wednesday citing a ruling that blocked a Glock ban in Connecticut.

The DOJ filed suit in federal court to invalidate California’s “Unsafe Handgun Act” and Glock ban in July after Democratic California Attorney General Rob Bonta refused to discuss a possible settlement with Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon, arguing the measures violated the Second Amendment rights of the state’s residents. After a federal judge in Connecticut placed a similar ban on Glocks on ice, attorneys with the Civil Rights Division’s Second Amendment Section updated United States District Judge Monica Ramirez Almadani of the Central District of California, a Biden appointee, about the situation.

“This decision is relevant to the pending Motion for Preliminary Injunction by Plaintiff in this case as it demonstrates that a sister federal district court has reviewed and granted a motion for preliminary injunction to enjoin the enforcement of a statute that bans the sale of handguns with cruciform trigger bars (commonly known as Glock bans),” the DOJ filing says. “The court first analyzed whether the plaintiffs would be likely to succeed on the merits of their claims, and concluded that they would because Glock bans are presumptively unconstitutional under Bruen step one and there was no historical analogue to rebut that presumption.”

In a notice provided to Judge Almadani Tuesday, California said it had approved a version of the Glock 43.

“The California Department of Justice’s webpage listing for the new Glock semiautomatic pistol model, Glock 43X CA, on the Handgun Roster, which does not have a plus symbol next to the model name, indicating that it does not fall within the definition of a machinegun-convertible pistol under California Penal Code section 16885 and thus is not subject to the prohibition on the sale, transfer, or delivery of machinegun-convertible pistols by firearms dealers,” the filing claimed.

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB1127 into law in October 2025, enacting the first state law to ban Glocks by labeling them as “machine gun convertible pistols.” Since then, Maryland, Connecticut and New York have imposed similar bans, which have been challenged in court.

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 provisions of the National Firearms Act of 1934.