ORLANDO, FL -(Ammoland.com)- The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) has visited another set of merchants of forced reset triggers.
On Friday, April 1st, 2022, the ATF visited several forced reset triggers retailers over the companies selling the Rare Breed Triggers FRT-15. This time the ATF requested customer records of the purchasers of the triggers. The ATF did not have a court order to take possession of the documents, so the agents left empty-handed. None of the three (3) retailers AmmoLand News spoke to on background gave up the records. AmmoLand News is not aware and does not believe any individual gun owners have been visited over any FRT triggers.
Another curiosity was that the ATF only wanted sales records for the period after the Bureau sent an open letter to federally licensed firearms dealers (FFLs) stating that some FRT triggers were machine guns.
The ATF did not specify in the letter what triggers the agency considered to be machine guns but did threaten to charge the sellers with violating the National Firearms Act (NFA).
These visits came on the heels of the ATF visiting one of the vendors that manufacture the FRT-15 for Rare Breed Triggers. Earlier in the year, the law enforcement agency also visited three locations owned by Big Daddy Enterprises and confiscated all Rare Breed FRT-15 and Wide Open Enterprises Wide Open Triggers that the company had on hand.
The Forced Reset Triggers Saga
The controversy around forced reset triggers started when Rare Breed Triggers was served with a “cease and desist” notice by the ATF over the FRT-15. The agency tested and determined that the trigger converts a semi-automatic AR-15 style firearm into a “machine gun”. The ATF accused the trigger of being a type of drop-in auto sear. According to federal regulations, any device that converts a firearm into a machine gun will be considered a machine gun itself.
The ATF examiner determined the FRT-15 was a machine gun by equipping an AR-15 with the trigger. The ATF employee then used a zip tie to hold back the trigger. According to the report, the rifle continued to fire more than one shot. A force reset trigger works by the bolt pushing the trigger forward, resetting the trigger allowing for faster shots. Since a zip tie is flexible, many advocates wondered if the trigger was reset and, due to the elasticity of the zip tie, pulled the trigger again.
Rare Breed then sued the ATF over the determination asking the courts for a preliminary injunction. Rare Breed was NOT granted a preliminary injunction but then pursued a permanent injunction. Due to a missed deadline, the court case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning that Rare Breed can refile, which the company vowed to do. The company has so far refused to comply with the “cease and desist” letter.
The ATF recently sent out a law enforcement notice to police departments around the country instructing officers how to identify the embattled triggers. The letter called the triggers machine guns. The ATF then followed it up with the aforementioned open letter to FFLs.
TAC CON 3MR is or was [it may not be produced anymore] the only forced reset trigger on the market with an opinion letter declaring it legal. Some analysts believe that this trigger was the one that the ATF is currently not classifying as a machine gun since the ATF would have to issue a new opinion letter. Other companies used the opinions of outside consultants and the original letter as evidence that FRTs are legal.
Rare Breed Triggers has been made aware of the visits, but company President Lawrence DeMonico did not return AmmoLand News’s request for comment.
If you have been visited about an FRT please drop us a line to our encrypted mailbox at [email protected]. We will guarantee your anonymity.
(U/LES/TAX) Forced Reset Triggers (FRTs) ATF Document Jan 13, 2022
About John Crump
John is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
Or … maybe our country could just return to its, still valid, Constitution.
ATF says they used a cabe tie to hold the trigger and the FRT continued to fire. Maybe a rubber band but a cable tie seems much too rigid. Could it be another lie from ATF?
Abolish the ATF the are illegal anyway and abolish career criminal politicians getting filthy rich stealing from the American taxpayers time to stand together and fight for our rights why do you think they try so hard to keep us all divided with the race crap our government is trying to push so hard they know that if we stand together and fight they don’t have a chance
Purchase the correct FFL? What does that mean? A full auto rifle should cost no more that a semi. You should know that! Nothing to do with pay to play.
The manufacturers of trigger and other components the BATF has found to be a machine gun need to get thier lawyers to all get together and send cease and desist letters to the BATF telling them they are about to be sued in a classified action law suit by all gun parts manufacturers and they will be tied up in court for the duration of thier lives litigating all these parts and weather they consist of or make a machine gun . Nothing like a lawsuit to tie these clowns hands for an extended period . A page out of… Read more »
selective enforcement is the way government agents operate. look the antifa/blm peaceful protests versus freedom rallies.
if you had the machinery and knowledge to build one yourself and didn’t sell or give it away, would batfe criminalize you? i’m sure they would if they knew.
government agents are your friend, nor are they there to help you.
Are these triggers serialized? DO you have to fill out a 4473 to get one? How does the ATF expect to know what was sold? They should sell them under a generic item line: Accessories
ATF: We would like to see your sales records for any FRT Triggers you have sold.
Answer: Well you see we were moving all our records to a new storage facility across the river and someone forgot to put the plug in the boat. Well about halfway across the river the boat started taking on water and the motor died. Sorry to say all those records were in cardboard file boxes and are sitting on the bottom of the river somewhere. We managed to get the boat back, but there was no sign of the file boxes.
Before your commentary, I was ignorant of the FRT trigger, but now I’m a fan!! I gotta get me one of those!
How does “pay to play” jive with “shall not be infringed?”
Do you pay to go to the religious institution of your choice?
Do you pay to vote for the candidate of your choice?
Why should you have to pay to select the firearm of your choice?