Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and a coalition of 16 attorneys general have reached an agreement with the federal government to prohibit the distribution of machine-gun conversion devices, known as Forced Reset Triggers (FRTs), in Massachusetts and other participating states. The agreement follows a lawsuit filed by the coalition, which raised concerns about the public safety risks posed by these devices, which can increase the firing rate of firearms. As a result of the settlement, the federal government has agreed not to return or sell the devices within the involved states.
The coalition's lawsuit prompted the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to confirm to a judge that it would not return FRTs to Massachusetts or the other states involved in the suit, a move that reflects a sharp turn in the legal tides, the ATF's acknowledgment accompanied by Rare Breed Triggers—the country's largest supplier of these FRTs—also confirmed through court filings it would cease selling the items in the states that are part of the lawsuit, prompting the coalition to withdraw their request for a preliminary injunction based on the ATF and Rare Breed Triggers' commitments.
"Weapons of war like FRTs have no place or purpose in everyday society – nor in any home, community, or school within the Commonwealth," AG Campbell stated in a firm repudiation of the devices, as reported by Mass.gov. She further stressed the importance of this legal victory, emphasizing that "the ATF approach to FRTs is a direct assault on every American’s inalienable right to feel safe in their homes, schools, and grocery stores."
The growing concern over the prevalence of such modification devices has been compounded by the disturbing rise in their use in violent crimes and mass shootings, FRTs, known for their ability to augment a firearm's rate of fire to up to 20 bullets per second, a figure alarmingly close to the firepower of military-grade machine guns, an increase in machine-gun fire incidents by 1,400% from 2019 through 2021, as highlighted by the ATF, has only fueled the attorneys general's resolve. The team of states that joined AG Campbell in the lawsuit includes Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, each state collectively standing against the spread of these perilous devices in their communities.
With the alignment of state powers and the resolute stand taken by AG Campbell, the course of action against machine-gun conversion devices may have charted a new course, one less marked by the specter of violence that machine-gun conversions have wrought upon the landscape of American life, and instead, a step towards the ever-coveted assurance of public safety.
