Oak Forest Gun Shop Sued By Chicago, Accused Of Contributing To City's Gun Violence

CHICAGO, IL — Oak Forest's Eagle Sports Range is one of two suburban gun shops being sued by the City of Chicago for its sale of Glock semiautomatic handguns.

Filed Monday, the lawsuit is a new version of one previously filed in March 2024, which was voluntarily dismissed the same day the current one was filed, Courthouse News Service reported. It also names gun manufacturer Glock, citing its part in selling semiautomatic handguns that can be modified to be automatic, enabling a shooter to fire multiple shots with a continuous squeeze of the trigger.

"Defendants Midwest Sporting Goods and Eagle Sports Range know that Glocks are easily and frequently modified into illegal machine guns and yet continue to market and sell Glock pistols into Chicago," the complaint reads.

Both Eagle Sports Range in Oak Forest and Midwest Sporting Goods, in Lyons were named by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on a 2023 list of firearm retailers tied to gun crimes, according to Courthouse News Service. The bureau also revoked Eagle's firearm dealer license in 2022 over multiple violations, including the falsification of records, according to ATF records.

"A hundred years ago, the Thompson submachine gun, also known as the Tommy gun, was the go-to weapon for Chicago criminals," the complaint reads. "Prohibition-era violence with the gun was so prevalent that the weapon was commonly referred to as the Chicago typewriter. In 1931, the public outcry in response to this violence led Illinois to prohibit machine guns, followed shortly thereafter by national regulation of machine guns. Unfortunately, the machine gun has returned as a weapon of choice for criminals in Chicago—this time in the form of a Glock pistol, which can be easily modified into a machine gun using a simple, quarter-sized device called an auto sear."

Glock does not manufacture the "switch," but they are easily found online, the suit claims. Both Eagle Sports Range and Midwest Sporting Goods sell Glock semiautomatic handguns, and both are listed on the manufacturer's list of sellers online.

Eagle Sports Range, 5900 W. 159th St., had its license revoked by the ATF after reportedly transferring a firearm to a prohibited individual, failing to complete required background checks, and falsifying records, among other violations. It skirted accountability for those instances, the lawsuit claims, when a relative of shop founder Omar Ahmad incorporated and continued the business' operations as a newly named, yet linked entity 5900 LLC. Ahmad's relative Nazeh Ahmad incorporated both that business and Range Plus LLC, the complaint states.

"... within three days of Eagle Sports Range receiving its revocation notice, a 25-year-old relative of the owner filed articles of incorporation for a new company that would run the exact same gun store, at the exact same location, using the same inventory, while employing much of the same staff," the complaint reads. "The net result was that the law-breaking gun store that the ATF 'shut down' in 2022 continued operations, without apparently missing a single day of business. Through it all, Glock continued to promote the store as a Glock-Authorized Dealer on its website, while the store sold its easily modified Glock pistols and simultaneously marketed a Modified Glock."

The store "endangers the safety of Chicago residents and their communities," the city claims in its suit.

"While Chicago has long struggled with an epidemic of gun violence, it is unquestionable that the manufacture, sales, and marketing of easily modified Glock pistols have made the situation worse," the filing reads. "The easily modified Glock pistols sold and promoted by Defendants are sought by criminals because with the addition of a simple switch, they are capable of military-grade firepower—killing and injuring higher numbers of victims and increasing the terror felt by ordinary Chicagoans. An ATF agent described the use of guns equipped with auto sears as 'one of the scariest things' the agency has dealt with in decades."

The lawsuit also claims guns sold at Eagle Sports Range account for 4 percent of those used in Chicago crimes and traced to a seller.

"Eagle Sports Range takes it even further, by marketing a Modified Glock to its customers," the lawsuit also claims. "From the beginning, a major component of Eagle Sports Range’s business plan has been promoting its 'full auto experience,' which allows customers to rent machine guns and fire them at its indoor range (a range which it has allowed convicted felons to use). As part of its 'full auto experience,' Eagle Sports Range markets the use of a Modified Glock at its range.

"Eagle Sports Range customers can thus 'demo' a Modified Glock at the store’s range, purchase a semiautomatic Glock from the store’s inventory, and then easily and illegally modify their new Glock pistol at home with an auto sear purchased off the internet."

The lawsuit seeks a $10,000 fine for each offense the shops have committed, and payment of profits obtained through unlawful sales to the City of Chicago. The City also asks that the court prohibit the stores from selling and marketing pistols that can easily be converted to fully automatic to non-law enforcement Chicago residents through its website and Illinois gun stores that serve the Chicago market.