Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. (Photo: Healey/Facebook)
Two firearms manufacturers have filed suit against Massachusetts’ Attorney General Maura Healey’s office. The companies are fighting to stop investigations seeking safety-related complaints about their products.
The two companies, Glock and Remington, argue that Healey is looking for anything she can use to pin a consumer safety case on to them, according to the lawsuits. Healey is an outspoken proponent for gun control and recently broadly and unilaterally expanded the state’s “assault weapons” ban. Healey claimed that manufacturers were using loopholes to get around the ban.
The lawsuits say that Healey’s office is demanding any and all documentation of consumer safety complaints and the companies’ responses. Healey cites a small number of negligent or “accidental” discharges by users as the reason for the investigation.
A negligent discharge occurs when a user disregards manufacturer and gun safety guidelines and unintentionally fires a gun. Healey argues that some gun manufacturers’ designs make users prone to disregard these guidelines.
See Also: Teachable Moments: Man Shoots Self with .22, Doesn’t Notice for 3 Days
Firearms manufacturers are exempt from Consumer Product Safety Commission investigations. Because of this, Healey’s office is making these demands from gun companies.
“This is the only product of its kind for which Congress has given the industry extensive freedom from liability,” said Healey, speaking at the White House. “That’s not right. The gun industry should be held to the same liability standards as the manufacturers and sellers of other consumer products.”
For many gun owners, these incidents represent a failure on the users’ part, and they can happen with all gun designs regardless of what types of safeties they employ. If users ignore the rules of gun safety, the repercussions are their responsibility.
Glock and Remington are not the only companies targeted by Healey’s investigation — they’re just the companies that filed suit against it. Both companies are some of the biggest names in the gun industry. Glock and Remington alike are two of the biggest manufacturers of law enforcement firearms and are mainstays in private shooting as well.
These companies’ guns are more likely to be involved with negligent discharges simply because their products are more common. Still, Healy cites at least three cases where their guns were on scene where someone was hurt through neglect.
“As the chief law enforcement office in Massachusetts, we are seeking that information to better inform our residents and to protect them from any safety or manufacturing issues with guns sold here,” said Healey’s communications director Cyndi Roy Gonzalez. “It’s unfortunate that these gun manufacturers have taken our office to court rather than comply with a simple request for consumer complaints and related information.”
See Also: NRA Gun Safety Rules
Healey’s investigation was promted by the recent discharges involving a retired Los Angeles police officer, a San Fransisco police officer and a Massachusetts man. In Los Angeles the retired officer and ex-Marine was shot and partially paralyzed by his 3-year-old son while driving with him in the back seat. The man, Enrique Herrera Chavez, blamed Glock’s design for lacking a grip safety.
In San Francisco deputy Rhonda Gaines brought a personally-bought “Baby Glock” to work. Gaines, unfamiliar with the gun, asked fellow deputy Sotero Santos for insight about it. Santos took the gun, pointed it past Gaines, and shot it at a cabinet inside the local hall of justice. Santos was unaware that the gun was loaded. No one was hurt and the round went through the cabinet and got stuck in a wall.
And in Massachusetts, Kiel Helenese shot himself in the leg at a Fourth of July party earlier this year. He apparently had the gun in his pocket and alcohol is believed to be involved. He was dancing when the gun discharged.
Glock products may only be sold to law enforcement officers in the state of Massachusetts. However, Healey argues that because they may still find their way into the hands of the public — regardless of the ban — that her attorney’s office has a public responsibility to step in under state law.
The phrase “same liability standards as the manufacturers and sellers of other consumer products” supports the argument that “other consumer products” manufacturers are sued innumerable times for frivolous reasons; adding another class of manufacturers to the frivolous lawsuit backlog does not help society, OR Justice.
Hopefully every manufacturer will stop selling guns, ammunition, and protective gear to law enforcement agencies in states and cities that pull this nonsense.
Uhhh these STUPID “f-ing” people are the problem as usual, NOT the firearm! Come on, good God. And that witch in MA should be hung upside down and have a broom stick inserted in her rather tight cavity for all to witness.
I can not believe the sheer ignorance shown by the “former law enforcement officer, Marine, ” and whatever else he was. As a former Marine SSGT, retired law enforcement officer/Sergeant (32 years), weapons instructor/range officer for more than 20 years, happy owner of 3 Glocks, and firearms owner for more than 50 years, I can assure one and all that a Glock has no grip safety and certainly does not need one. As the firing pin simply lies in place and the Glock has no hammer to rise and fall, a grip safety or other manual safety is not necessary. Sadly, such nonsense will be accepted and believed by many uninformed boneheads.
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey was wrong when she banned all semi-auto’s without passing new legislation but she is 100 per cent right when it comes to the unsafe Glock pistol and the copy cat pistols like it.
We now have enough history to show that the Glock is a unsafe pistol. It has no manual safety or grip safety and it is set off accidentally as easily as carrying around a revolver with the hammer cocked back. Unfortunately Jethro Bodine is about as mechanically inclined as a chimpanzee and what is even worse he believes he is incapable of ever making a mistake.
Even Cops who carry the Glock every day have accidentally shot themselves and even worse maimed and killed innocent people when at an ordinary traffic stop. Just this year here are two of literally hundreds of tragic examples over the years. A Police chief reached across his desk in haste and pulled his Glock towards himself, the unsafe trigger safety failed to work as it always does in such instances and the gun fired blowing off his thumb. Earlier this year a mother shopping with her two year old boy had the boy reach into her purse and before she could stop him he blew her head off. In another instance this year a woman who was very pro gun had her child reach into her purse while she was driving and she was shot in the back but did survive. These are only the most recent out of literally hundreds and hundreds of tragedies over the decades with the Glock and copy cat pistols like the Glock that have been made and sold. The Greed Monger Manufactures because of their greed and complete lack of moral standards deserve to have their asses sued off.
In foreign countries many have banned Glocks from importation unless equipped with a factory installed manual safety which Glock has supplied for years but not to the America Public. This fact alone is evidence enough to result in a successful lawsuit against them here in the U.S. because of all of the hundreds of tragedies that have occurred.
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey is again right when she claims other designs are way more safe to handle and carry. Even a Colt 1911 locked and cocked is a way safer gun when a child accidentally finds a loaded one and picks it up as he would have to first disengage the manual safety and have a hand large enough to press the grip safety inward and still be able to reach and pull the trigger. Even a double action revolvers often have trigger pulls with a 12 lb pull as opposed to the Glocks short stroke 4 lb trigger. Even two year old children can set a Glock off and have many times with tragic results.
There is no bigger idiot than Jethro Bodine when he claims “the best safety is between your ears” if such were the case we would not have safety glass in automobiles or back up safeties on riding lawn mowers or child proof bottles that medicine is in. But you cannot convince Jethro Bodine of this until he or his kids get themselves killed and by then of course its too late. One might say “so what” Jethro deserves it but he often ends up killing the neighbors kids who may not even be gun owners which then results in more people being anti-gun for the rest of their lives and hell bent on destroying the Second Amendment out of revenge on such idiots as Jethro and who can blame them if you were in their shoes.
Based on your “logic”, then the design and manufacturing of simple, yet inherently safe firearms would be compared equally with other devices, say, toothpicks… further, since you obviously have no experience with the firearms in question, my advice to you is to stay away from toothpicks, as you may have an accident ..also stay away from spoons, toothbrushes, and other simple implements, as your profound lack of knowledge makes you a hazard to everyone else, no matter what simple implement you have picked up…in short, you sir, are a complete idiot…
It does not surprise me that your reading comprehension was so low that all of it went right over your head. And by the way Jethro, I have over 53 years firearms experience which includes Glocks and other striker fired weapons. How much experience do you have?
You sound like another typical liberal idiot. Go on and move to AM or CA or you probably live in 1 of those “communist” states. Guns don’t hurt people, other people do.
Yes I am a proud Liberal and many of us Liberals support the Second Amendment too, but unlike you, we are not blind to the mistakes the Gun Designers and the Gun Industry sometimes make. People are human and they make mistakes and therefore all weapons are not perfect or flawless. Conservatives seem unable to comprehend any of this which is no surprise to me. Their responses are often so ignorant and asinine it stuns me. Few seem to have any conception on how the Glock works as compared to other better, safer and in many cases more reliable designed weapons. But that is another story and if you do not understand the safety design defects of the Glock, then I would hardly expect you to understand its reliability flaws either. It would be a waste of time for me to even to attempt to explain them too you. It obviously would be way over your head.
It’s not a design flaw rocket man.. keep your finger off the trigger and keep the weapon away from children… gee what a concept.. take your liberal nonsense and move out private
Because you said so and a handful of other morons screwed up (like leaving a loaded gun in the back seat with your young child….. F’n Seriously) then it must be so, But apparently 65% of America’s Law Enforcement would disagree since they keep trusting them to save THEIR lives on a statistical average their safety is bar none
Your blaming a gun because a moron pointed a loaded gun and squeezed the trigger 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Your just as F’n Stuuupid
Residents of Massachusetts remember the former AG who started all these laws in a failed attempt at running for governor. No one has heard from him since as he is not electable. He demonized Glock but somehow, Smith and Wesson, a Massachusetts gun manufacturer was left alone. Why isn’t this woman naming S&W in the same investigation? Statistics have shown that the number one gun used in crimes is a S&W revolver and I can tell you that their quality and failure rate is atrocious. Why not fix your own state first?
The stupidity of people and those allowed to procreate should be on trial. It is “the poor writer who blames the pen.”
As a prior law enforcement officer, Marine, and HSE Safety manager, I can see both sides of this issue. Unfortunately due to politics from both sides of the aisle certain consumer safety protocols in firearm manufacturing are actually being missed, that are NOT being missed in other industries, as often. Currently the Samsung phone issue everyone is all in an uproar about and action is being taken aggressively by government consumer protection agencies. There are improvements that Glock , Remington and Colt can make to their products but have chosen not to, due to cost and profit, not politics. The Glock pistol firearm is a very easy to use and teach others how to use firearm, however its grip safety is TERRIBLE. When I taught others how to shoot I almost required a Pachmyer rubber grip slip on for this weapon due to this flaw, and its a real safety FLAW. There are other issues with certain other firearms as well, these issues actually need to be truly addressed by a un-biased individual. She however, is NOT. But please don’t miss the fact that these companies are actually allowed to produced safety flawed firearms due to these safety manufacturing regulation exemptions, Maybe ATF and NRA should review the safety of these products on a federal level ,as models are produced to ensure personal safety, from a gun enthusiast perspective. True Safety relies on the user, but good manufacturing and safety protocols ensure allot of products produced today are safe for public use.
Grip safety on a Glock is terrible?? Requiring a slip on rubber grip to address the flaw in the Glock’s grip safety?? A prior “law enforcement officer, Marine, and HSE Safety manager (whatever that is)” complaining about the grip safety on a Glock! Please explain to us dumb, know nothing Glock owners why you think the “grip safety” on a Glock is flawed. I wait with bated breath for your expert opinion on this most important matter.
Matt, what are you talking about? There is no grip saftey on a Glock. From the way you speak ” the Glock pistol firearm” I have doubts about you credentials. Guns are different from other products they are by nature destructive devices and ignoring the basic saftey rules will get you in trouble every time. I live in CA and only safe ghandguns can be bought here, guess what most of Glocks models are on the ok list.
Thats funny my wife and 3 daughter’s all small women have no problems with the grips and apparently either does the 65% of American Law Enforcement that carries them
Grip safety my wife and 3 daughter’s all small women have no problems with the grips and apparently either does the 65% of American Law Enforcement that carries them
Laws of Statistics says this is BS
AG Healey,
In case you can’t read between the lines Rem and G are telling you to go fuck yourself. If you want to be the sweetheart of gun control give bloomberg a little lowinski time. At least you will get a pat on the head.
Thank you for this Sir.
AG Maura Healey is worse than a damn fool idiot democrat. If the people of Massachusetts have any common sense at all, they will absolutely vote her OUT OF OFFICE in the next election. Healey uses her position as Attorney General to dictate her opinion to the millions of people in Massachusetts what she contrives to be the law to make several common guns illegal. She is definitely a small minded idiot to do something to help the sorry liar Hillary who has done so much to hurt the U.S. by being such a sorry excuse for a Secretary of State. Hillary was behind many actions that were both stupid and illegal, such as the lies about the private email server that mishandled State Department CLASSIFIED EMAILS and making no effort whatsoever to help the ambassador and 3 assistants who were killed in Bengazi, Libya. (BENGAZI – WE HAD THE TIME, SHIPS AND PLANES. WE DID NOT HAVE THE LEADERSHIP !!!) She has been a blatant liar in every stupid and illegal action she has done and, using her influence with idiot democrat politicians in the beuracracy, she has not been held accountable. Apparently, Maura Healey wants to be a member of the same group of asinine democrat idiots as Obama, Clintons Hillary, Billy, and Chelsea, Tim Kaine, Pelosi, Feinstein, Boxer, Schumer, Gov. Brown of California, Gov. Brown of Oregon, Bloomberg, Katie Couric, Soros who owns Progressive insurance, Susan Collins, Harry Reid, the Democrat biased network news media which includes Rupert Murdoch, and other people of the same ilk. Why are these idiots in positions of responsibility????
Healey is a FORKIN’ RETARD and an embaressment to Massachusetts residents!!!
You can make a product safe to use but you can not make it idiot proof. I own and carry a Glock 23. I chose to modify the stock gun with a stainless guide rod a 20 pound spring, a ported barrel, Advantage sights and a 3.5 pound trigger kit. If you fiddle diddle with that trigger that gun will go BANG and shoot whatever or whoever it is pointed at. I did these changes to take away some of the kick of a 180 grain 40 cal. S&W round and increase my ability to shoot the gun accurately. Mission accomplished BUT you do not put your trigger finger inside that trigger guard unless you want it to go bang. It stays in a high quality suede lined Kydex holster that locks it in the holster and covers the trigger till you manipulate the release. Yes it is always loaded and a round in the chamber and I carry it when I work around the property. It is a system that is impervious to sweat and wet but nothing is impervious to an idiot.
So when will all responsible law abiding gun owners take the offensive instead of complaining and letting the manufactures and just a few organizations defend the 2nd Amendment. For too long, almost 40 years, gun owners have been on the defense while anti gun tyrants like this Ma. AG keep whittling away the peoples rights to keep and bear arms. They are more innovative, focused and committed to dumb down or repeal the 2nd Amendment than gun owners are to defend their rights. All they do is complain among themselves, yet when elections come around, they vote party lines rather than for those candidates that vow to defend the 2nd Amendment. I have yet to see a national pro gun movement or any powerful demonstration such as the 1 million man march that would show these political tyrants that they should either abide by the Constitution or face the real possibility of not be elected again. Until gun owners do these things, they will continue to lose their rights a law, or executive order at a time.
I agree I live in CA and I keep calling for a March in Sacramento right on the Capitol to let these COWARDS wussy Gun free zones legislators know we’re sick of their shady sneak moves. We need a large turnout, and the cockroaches will flee. Then when the 2nd American Revolution happens we can execute these domestic traitors. Massachusetts Glocks can only be sold to law enforcement Officers, what a massive infringement on the 2nd amendment. Do we tell the first amendment what language they can protest in, or what laptop to write a blog. Why do we put up with this. It’s way past time to start acting.
I agree. We need to actually get out and do something!!! Writing silly emails and letters do not do $hit at the end of the day. Come on people. It’s okay for the blacks to burn down parts of cities, we should be able to do something…….
Well, as Forest says “stupid is as stupid does”. ‘Nuff said.
Sorry an ex marine and cop got shot by his 3 year old. With these qualifications he well knew the infinite variety of weapons he had to choose from but HE made the choice to carry a Glock. Did he not notice the lack of grip safety? Additionally to quote a line, “You failed to maintain your weapon sir! ” With all his experience he still chose to keep his weapon in a manner that made it accessible to a child. But that’s all Glock s fault. Glock and the other service pistol makers should back out of any government contracts in that state. When the cops got nothing left to use but High Points they can run that idiot out of office.
Damn right. Take responsibility for your own actions.
How does a 2 year old child who kills himself accidentally or another child able to take responsibility? The real facts are found in my above post and yes Jethro there is a great deal of difference between the various designs of firearms. When a pistol like the 1911 Colt is way more safe to handle than a Glock it shows you how right the Attorney General of Massachusetts really is when it comes to consumer product safety. People like you still claim nothing was wrong to market the “yard dart guns” which resulted in the loss of eyesight to many children or the manufacture of molds for lead toy soldiers for a child’s use which resulted in lead poisoning and severe burns when casting. Facts are, there are reasons for consumer safety concerns about manufactured products and no amount of Jethro Bodine paranoia about a Government conspiracy changes tragedies that can be avoided by common sense changes to consumer products. The 1911 grip and manual safeties are over 100 years old and the Glock does not have them. Something should tell even a Moron that something is very wrong here.
“This is the only product of its kind for which Congress has given the industry extensive freedom from liability,” said Healey, speaking at the White House. “That’s not right. The gun industry should be held to the same liability standards as the manufacturers and sellers of other consumer products.”
Just ridiculous anti-firearms agenda. It should be no different than the auto industry. Do you want to make auto manufacturers responsible for every car crash, or, only in the case of negligent, faulty products? Healy is just another mindless, Commie-Obamanist. Did the firearm work as intended (sent a projectile out the end of the barrel when trigger was pulled)? Case dismissed.
I agree completely. It would be interesting to to compare the numbers of firearm injuries versus the injuries for those who use alcohol. Not just the auto accidents ( Cars too, guess they all need alcohol ignition devices) alcohol causes but what about the physical and societal issues that come up becasue of the use of alcohol. I would bet its 10-20 times more damaging.
Take just about any product and you have the possibility of injury if not used according to the manufacturer’s instructions and safety protocols. Remember back when a simple plastic bag covering dry cleaning was just a bag. Now it has warnings that it can be a hazard and may cause DEATH, but its not banned. Its not even regulated!! So I guess we need micro engraved warnings on firearms that they are dangerous and may cause serious injury of death if not used properly. Then we need to make sure that everyone can read! Maybe that should be her goal! What an idiot!!!!!!!!!!
Perfect example. More people are killed by vehicles than guns every year. Just another lib broad with no clue.
Much learning has made her mad.
I REALLY hope that this fully discredits Maura. If not and if she is appointed at a federal level she will do the same with even more power. @Remington and @Glock please use the fact that MA law that provides for passing firearms (and via testing) to the approved firearm list of which, BOTH of you have approved firearms. MA AG’s office has at least 3 terms of AG’s that have circumvented this law in using consumer protection laws to prohibit Glocks from being sold by MA FFLs. Proving abuse of power? Then, the fact that a very high percentage of MA local and state police, and probably Maura’s guards, carry Glock. Proving that the firearm is reliable and establishing that Maura is knowingly making false accusations in order to take actions that are so loosely associated with her oath of office as to be ludicrous and unethical.
She’s hoping to go on to bigger and netter things in the near future. Massachusetts doesn’t have enough issues she should be tending to she needs to go after (with some support from Barry and Soros I’ll bet) the manufacturers.I’ll bet she’s tight with our old friend Sheryl Jacques! Jacques was AG at one time and tried her best to shut down any gun ownership in the state a while back.
It should be no secret that the center of Massachusetts politics, Beacon Hill in Boston, is a cesspool of democrat corruption.
The dems know that they cannot have total control of our property and our lives as long as honest, law-abiding citizens are
armed. So, A.G. Healey begins her part of the process by turning almost 500,000 of these gun owning citizens into criminals
while doing absolutely nothing to curb the activities of the real criminal element in the state.
Maura Healey is a moron. Folks need to just show up wherever she is appears publicly, and simply chant “moron-moron-moron . . .” Repeatedly.
Negligent discharges are caused by the human, not the gun. And in every case, the most basic gun safety rules were violated, This is not an legal inquiry for a safety study, its a witch hunt designed to maximize visibility of the Atty General. There is a legitimate reason why devices designed to kill, and designed for killing are exempt from CPSC investigations, because anti gun politicians, lawyers, and even victims would tie up gun makers in endless legal proceedings and paralyze the industry. In all the cases of firearm discharge cited in this report the gun functioned as designed, in fact perfectly. But this Atty General is not interested in individual safety, far from it. If she was, state sponsored gun safety training would have been the correct choice.
Note that Gun makers are not exempt from lawsuits where the gun truly malfunctioned, as in the Remington 700 trigger malfunctions.
Its an irony that same colony where God fearing strong moral men began the fight for freedom and democracy, has become a festering Godless bastion of sexual perversion,Communism, and freedom hating public tyrants.
Superbly spoken. Hear, hear.