Sixteen Attorneys General are suing the National Association for Gun Rights and the federal government to stop the return of illegally confiscated Forced Reset Triggers.
The states, led by the anti-gun attorney general of New Jersey, include Maryland, Delaware, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.
On May 16, 2025, the National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR) and Texas Gun Rights entered into a settlement agreement that stops further litigation and enforcement by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) regarding Forced Reset Triggers (FRTs).
As part of the settlement, the DOJ and ATF agreed to return all seized or surrendered FRTs.
Hannah Hill, vice president of the National Association for Gun Rights, said in a recent email about the suit, “We’ve beaten the gun grabbers in this case over and over and over. In fact, this coalition of anti-gun states has tried to intervene twice before, only to be shut down hard by the courts.”
Under the settlement terms, the ATF will return all FRTs that were seized or surrendered, regardless of whether they belong to NAGR members or not. Individual owners must request returns by September 30, 2025; instructions will be published on the ATF’s website.
A page on the ATF website said, “Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement between the United States and Rare Breed Triggers, LLC, Rare Breed Firearms, LLC, National Association for Gun Rights Inc., Texas Gun Rights, Inc. and those individuals named in the agreement, the United States has agreed to return FRT-15s and WOTs [Wide-Open Triggers] seized or taken as a result of a voluntary surrender and that are not evidence in criminal investigations or prosecutions or subject to forfeiture pursuant to 27 C.F.R. Section 478.152 (‘eligible FRTs’).”
Hill said the states judge-shopped the suit to an anti-gun court in Maryland, where they drew an Obama-appointed judge. So, she said, while NAGR should notch an easy win on the triggers’ return to her group’s members and others, in all likelihood the law and the facts won’t actually matter to this judge.
Hill said that most of the states in this lawsuit have already banned FRTs at the state level. She added, “And the reality is, our settlement ending the DOJ’s legal rampage against triggers did not reverse those state bans.”
The ATF website says, “Some states independently prohibit the possession of forced reset triggers or trigger activating devices. If you live in a jurisdiction in which the possession of a forced reset trigger is prohibited by law, ATF will work with you to return the device in a place where it may be lawfully possessed, or upon request, will transfer the device to a third party who may lawfully receive it.”
“But when you have 16 anti-gun attorneys general lining up against us in front of a leftist judge,” she said, “it’s nowhere close to the slam-dunk it should be. Here’s what I am confident of: Even if this Obama-appointed district court judge rules against us – which is unfortunately likely – we will win on appeal.”
Other language on the ATF website reads, “As part of the Settlement Agreement, the United States has agreed not to enforce 18 U.S.C. Section 922(o) and the requirements of the National Firearms Act, Gun Control Act of 1968 as amended by the Hughes Amendment to the 1986 Firearm Owners Protection Act, or any similar statute or agency interpretation of 26 U.S.C. Section 5845(b) under which an eligible FRT is contended to be a ‘machinegun’ or otherwise unlawful against any person or organization for possessing or transferring an eligible FRT.”
ATF will be notifying owners of eligible FRTs by mail and providing instructions as to how to retrieve their devices. This will be arranged through the local field offices. Specific contact information for the appropriate field office will be in the instructions. Notifications will be sent based on available contact information and mailed no later than June 30, 2025. Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, all return requests must be made by September 30, 2025.
