Press Release  AG Campbell Blocks Returns And Sales of Machine Gun Conversion Devices In Massachusetts

BOSTON — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell today announced that following her lawsuit alongside a coalition of 16 attorneys general, the Trump Administration has committed to carving out Massachusetts from its illegal plans to distribute thousands of machine-gun conversion devices (MCD) into communities across the United States.

In submissions made in the multistate litigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has expressly confirmed to a judge that it will not return Forced Reset Triggers (FRTs) into Massachusetts or the other plaintiff states. In addition, Rare Breed Triggers, the country’s largest purveyor of FRTs, has confirmed in its court filings that it will not sell any FRTs in the plaintiff states. As a result, the coalition is withdrawing its motion for a preliminary injunction, based on a notice that lays out these representations in detail.

"Weapons of war like FRTs have no place or purpose in everyday society – nor in any home, community, or school within the Commonwealth,” said AG Campbell. “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. I am proud to have secured this outcome, which will protect the safety and wellbeing of Massachusetts residents, and I will continue to fight back against the Administration's unlawful and harmful policies.”

In recent years, machine-gun conversion devices like FRTs, 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 MCDs 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 MCDs, leading to increasing incidents of machine-gun fire – up 1,400% from 2019 through 2021.

Joining AG Campbell in filing the lawsuit were the attorneys general of Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. 

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