Ron Schutz, Keith Ellison clash over Minnesota’s Glock lawsuit

We start tonight with the Fox 9 investigator, Nathan O'Neill. He explains how one race could impact a landmark lawsuit against one of the largest gun manufacturers in the world. Minnesota is currently suing Glock, but the future of that lawsuit could be decided when the final votes are counted next week in the race for attorney general. You better believe that I would defend every Minnesota law on the books to protect people from gun violence. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed the lawsuit against Glock in 2024. Claiming the design of its handguns allow them to be easily modified to operate like a machine gun with a so called switch. And yes, I'm actively suing Glock right now because you can put a $10 device in a Glock and convert it from a semi automatic into a machine gun which is illegal. I'm suing them over that. Glock's attorneys have repeatedly tried to get Minnesota's lawsuit thrown out. And during an appearance on Fox 9 all day, Republican challenger for Attorney General Ron Schutz was also critical of the lawsuit. I've not looked at that case and I've not looked at the allegations of that case. But I think that is just an example of a political case that the Attorney General has filed because his real agenda is to make sure that law abiding citizens don't have handguns. Let's be clear about this. There's nobody in this race who is saying that we ought to abolish handguns. Richard Painter is a law professor at the University of Minnesota. He's also the former chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush. Well, it's quite clear that if Schutz is elected attorney general, he will not pursue the lawsuit against Glock and he will not pursue other gun manufacturers. Schutz's own words appear to back that up. We've got to have some change. During a candidate forum back in January, he said he would shut down the existing partnership with the Gun Violence Prevention Clinic at the U of M. My question for Ron Schuette, candidate for Attorney General. Will your office continue to work with the Anti-Gun Violence Prevention Law Clinic at the University of Minnesota? And if you answer that quickly, you could say whatever you want after that. No. The clinic has played a key role in Minnesota's litigation against the gun industry, including the recent settlement with Fleet Farm, which was accused of negligently selling dozens of guns to illegal straw buyers, including one that surfaced at a mass shooting in Saint Paul in 2021. And today, the clinic is still heavily involved in the ongoing lawsuit against Glock. But that is a judgment call to be made by the Attorney General. And if a new Attorney General chooses to drop that suit, then the resources that have been invested in it will have been to no avail. Now, if Schuette wins and decides to abandon the lawsuit against Glock, he could decide to pull out altogether or starve the litigation of the resources that it needs. Either way, it's clear that guns are very much on the ballot in Minnesota this election season. For the Fox 9 investigators, I'm Nathan O'Neill. Well, for nearly two years, the Fox 9 investigators have tracked the lawsuit against Glock, including speaking to families affected by gun violence. 21-year-old Charlie Johnson is highlighted in the lawsuit. He died from his injuries after being hit in the back by a stray bullet during a shooting in downtown Minneapolis in 2021. Charlie was set to graduate from the University of St. Thomas the very next day. We were thankful every day that we had healthy kids until the day we didn't. Fun doesn't justify having a weapon of mass destruction on our streets. Glock is accused of making misleading and deceptive marketing campaigns, including social media videos that the state said glorify the fully automatic use of Glock.