​Texas Judge Rules: Forced Reset Triggers are Not Machine Guns

This week, a Texas judge dismantled an ATF regulation that re-defined forced reset triggers (FRTs) as legal machine guns. The ruling reverses the ATF’s three year old decision and reaffirms that FRTs can be bought and sold like any other trigger.

Texas Judge Rules Forced Reset Triggers are Not Machine Guns

On July 23, 2024, the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled that firearm accessories known as “Forced Reset Triggers” were not machine guns. The ATF issued notices in 2021 telling them that the agency considered these devices machine guns.

As a result, the ATF indicated it would prosecute FRT owners for possessing illegal machine guns. The punishment for that crime is up to $250,000 in fines and 10 years in federal prison.

Notably, although the case involved firearm accessories, the ruling wasn’t related to the Second Amendment. Instead, lawyers for the Plaintiff, the National Association of Gun Rights, argued that the ATF’s rule violated administrative procedure. In other words, they said that ATF overstepped the bounds of their power. The court agreed.

What is a Forced Reset Trigger (FRT)?

Forced reset triggers help increase an AR-15’s rate of fire, simulating fully-automatic fire. The devices do this by pushing the trigger forward every time a shooter pulls it. Then, the force of the shooter’s finger re-engages the trigger.

According to the National Firearms Act of 1934, a firearm is only a machine gun if it fires multiple rounds from a single trigger pull. Since an FRT physically resets the trigger, and the shooter’s finger re-pulls it, it’s not technically a machine gun.

One of the things that has made FRTs attractive on the civilian market is their ease of installation. If someone can install a regular semi-auto AR-15 trigger group, they can install an FRT. All they need to do is remove the gun’s current fire control group and replace it with the FRT, which comes in a single “cassette” style unit.

The Big Picture

This is another huge ruling in a string of favorable outcomes for gun owners against the ATF favor of gun owners against the ATF. In the last month, the Supreme Court struck down the longstanding Chevron ruling, along with overturning the 2018 bump stock ban.

The fight for FRTs is likely far from over, though. This decision comes from a state appeals court, so the ATF will almost certainly file an appeal. If that happens, it’ll head up to the Fifth Circuit Court. The Fifth Circuit is notoriously gun-friendly, like when it previously ruled the bump stock ban unconstitutional.

That’s likely to take a year or more to develop though. Regardless, we’ll keep an eye on the situation and report back as it develops.