First It Was GLOCK: NOW IT"S RUGER' TURN, GOOD-BY RXM?

Everytown for Gun Safety has now set its sights on Sturm, Ruger & Co., calling on the American gunmaker to stop producing its new RXM pistol, just weeks after Glock announced plans to discontinue several of its most popular handguns amid ongoing lawsuits and legislative pressure from anti-gun activists.

In a letter sent on Monday, Everytown’s chief litigation counsel, Eric Tirschwell, told Ruger that the company should “put public safety first” by either removing the RXM pistol from the market or redesigning its internal trigger system. The group claims the RXM shares a trigger mechanism like Glock’s so-called “cruciform” design; a part that Everytown argues makes both brands’ pistols vulnerable to illegal modification with so-called switches or auto sears.

“Ruger faces a choice following Glock’s recent announcement,” Tirschwell wrote. “Will it continue to sell the RXM despite the evidence of its ease of convertibility to an illegal machine gun, or will it put public safety first?”

The letter comes on the heels of Everytown claiming credit for Glock’s production changes, describing them as a “major victory” for gun control efforts. The group says it intends to apply similar pressure to Ruger, one of the nation’s largest firearms manufacturers, if the company doesn’t comply with its demands.

Ruger has not publicly responded to the letter.

The issue centers around illegal conversion devices, commonly called “Glock switches”, that can turn a semi-automatic pistol into a fully automatic weapon. These small parts, often imported illegally or manufactured with 3D printers, have been appearing in criminal cases across the country.

Everytown and other gun control groups argue that because these devices interact with the cruciform trigger bar used in many Glock-pattern pistols, the design itself is “defective” and should be banned or redesigned.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has documented an increase in recoveries of conversion devices nationwide. However, critics note that illegal conversion devices exist for nearly every major firearm platform, including AR-15 rifles, and that Glock’s popularity simply makes it a more common target for modification and enforcement.

More importantly, the possession or installation of these devices is already a serious federal crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison.