WA joins federal suit to prevent Trump administration’s efforts to distribute thousands of machine gun devices

Seattle - Attorney General Nick Brown today joined a coalition of 15 other attorneys general in suing the Trump administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) over its plans to distribute thousands of machinegun conversion devices to communities across the United States.

ATF’s action involves forced reset triggers, which allow even novice shooters to achieve the firepower of a military machinegun. Although ATF previously classified these as machineguns, the agency — under directive from the administration — signed a settlement agreement that promises to stop enforcing federal law against forced reset triggers and to redistribute thousands of them that ATF had previously seized. The multistate litigation seeks to prevent that imminent redistribution, because forced reset triggers are illegal to possess under federal law.

“Communities are less safe with these mass-shooting devices in circulation,” Brown said. “Essentially deregulating them is another example of this administration being driven by extreme ideology rather than commonsense.”

In recent years, machinegun conversion devices like forced reset triggers, which dramatically increase a firearm’s rate of fire, have been frequently used in violent crimes and mass shootings, worsening the gun violence epidemic in the United States. Firearms equipped with machinegun conversion devices are able to exceed the rate of fire of many military machine guns, firing up to 20 bullets in one second. ATF has noted a significant rise in the use of these devices, leading to increasing incidents of machine-gun fire – up 1,400% from 2019 through 2021.

Since at least 1975, ATF has classified devices that operate similarly to forced reset triggers as machineguns prohibited by federal law. These devices replace the standard trigger on a semiautomatic firearm to allow the shooter to maintain continuous fire with one trigger pull, similar to the operation of fully automatic weapons. Despite the prohibition, in recent years, ATF estimates that at least 100,000 such triggers have been distributed across the country. ATF’s records also establish that machinegun conversion devices, including forced reset triggers, are showing up more often at crime scenes.

Multiple lawsuits seeking either to enforce or challenge the prohibition on forced reset triggers were filed during the Biden Administration. A federal judge in New York agreed that they are banned under federal law. A federal judge in Texas disagreed and held that they do not qualify as machineguns under federal law, but that ruling was on appeal.

On May 16, the Trump administration announced that it has now settled these lawsuits—and done so in a way that eviscerates the federal prohibition on forced reset triggers. ATF has agreed to abandon its enforcement actions and appeals; promised to stop enforcing the federal ban against the devices, even against individuals and sellers who were not parties to any of these lawsuits; and pledged to redistribute forced reset triggers that it previously seized.

Today’s lawsuit seeks to prevent the redistribution because they are prohibited by U.S. law, which prohibits anyone from owning machineguns, including devices that convert firearms into automatic weapons. The lawsuit explains that the federal government cannot violate U.S. law, even when it tries to bury those violations in a settlement agreement.

The coalition will seek a preliminary injunction to halt the administration from distributing these devices in ways that directly harm plaintiff states in contravention of federal law.

The lawsuit explains that the redistribution of machinegun conversion devices will permanently threaten public safety nationwide. And as the lawsuit highlights, ATF has even admitted that returning forced reset triggers in states that prohibit them would “aid and abet” violations of state laws. The attorneys general seek to prevent those harms from occurring.

Attorney General Brown is joining New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Colorado, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the District of Columbia.

The complaint is available here.

-30-

Washington’s Attorney General serves the people and the state of Washington. As the state’s largest law firm, the Attorney General’s Office provides legal representation to every state agency, board, and commission in Washington. Additionally, the Office serves the people directly by enforcing consumer protection, civil rights, and environmental protection laws. The Office also prosecutes elder abuse, Medicaid fraud, and handles sexually violent predator cases in 38 of Washington’s 39 counties.

Visit www.atg.wa.gov to learn more.

Media Contact:

Email: press@atg.wa.gov

Phone: (360) 753-2727

General contacts: Click here

Media Resource Guide & Attorney General’s Office FAQ