In a recent legal skirmish over gun control, Michigan's Attorney General Dana Nessel, accompanied by a coalition of 16 attorneys general, stepped up to defend a regulation that would outlaw Forced Reset Triggers (FRTs) nationally. Nessel has voiced her dissatisfaction with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals' decision to dismiss an appeal that could have solidified the prohibition of these devices, which essentially transform semi-automatic firearms into something akin to fully automatic weapons.
The case, National Association for Gun Rights v. Bondi, revolved around regulating FRTs by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Under the spotlight was the ATF's initial classification of FRTs as machine guns under federal law, a status that rendered them illegal. In an unexpected turn, the U.S. Department of Justice reversed its course, defending this classification following a settlement with the plaintiffs. As the ATF's intention to ban these triggers was up in the air, Nessel and the multistate coalition requested to continue the fight to defend the characterization.
However, the Fifth Circuit Court did not entertain the coalition’s motion to intervene and dismissed the appeal as the Department of Justice had requested. This move has potentially paved the way for these FRTs to slip through the legal system's cracks and into civilians' hands, a prospect that Nessel finds deeply troubling. "Allowing devices that turn semi-automatic weapons into machine guns is dangerous, and these Forced Reset Triggers have no place in our communities. Banning them should be the bare minimum if we want to combat the gun violence epidemic," said Nessel, according to a statement obtained by Michigan's Government website.
