In case you forgot, the agency famous for once declaring a shoestring a machine gun has recently targeted Florida-based company Rare Breed Triggers.
Why?
Well, an ATF letter to Rare Breed stated that the FRT-15 trigger was classified as a machine gun under the National Firearms Act and that Rare Breed needs to cease and desist sales of the FRT-15.
The ATF concluded that the Rare Breed triggers were a set of parts designed to convert a semi-automatic weapon into a machine gun. The ATF’s examination found that the Rare Breed trigger allows a firearm to “shoot, automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, with a single continuous pull of the trigger.”
The FRT in FRT-15 stands for Forced Reset Trigger, and though I have not handled one, I understand that they still require one pull of the trigger to function.
The user pulls the trigger, the weapon fires and the FRT-15 forces a reset of the trigger. If the user keeps continuous force on the trigger, it will fire again.
Here’s Rare Breed’s explanation of how the FRT-15 works:
So, let’s fast-forward to now and what is occurring.
Lawrence DeMonico recently uploaded this video to give an update on the lawsuit so, we reached out to him for comment, and let’s just say that he was happy to give us some backstory.
He also asked for our help in sharing the message.
In 2020, Rare Breed purchased a patent from “Wolf Tactical“ and developed the Forced Reset Trigger-15 (FRT-15).
They brought the FRT-15 to market in December 2020 and later entered into an agreement with Big Daddy Unlimited to be the sole distributor for the trigger. After a few short months of the trigger being offered, BATFE hit Rare Breed with a Cease & Desist letter demanding they stop manufacturing, marketing, and selling the FRT-15.
Based on mechanical impossibilities and wording not included in the statutory definition of machinegun, the BATFE had classified the trigger as a “Machinegun”.
They redefined what makes an item a Machinegun while also changing their testing criteria. Disagreeing with the BATFE decision, Rare Breed filed its first lawsuit against the agency but also continued to manufacture and sell the FRT-15.
That first lawsuit was dismissed due to a missed joint filing date. Soon after, Rare Breed filed a second lawsuit that was also dismissed but for venue reasons.
Shortly thereafter, the fun came to a screeching halt for most of us that were enjoying the trigger. At some point, we all had to start worrying about having a Machinegun in our safe because we purchased what was clearly a semiautomatic trigger.
Rare Breed has been fighting this fight for the last 24 months against both the ATF and the DOJ.
Now, combine this with having to fight multiple companies for patent infringement, which in itself is an extremely costly undertaking.
Big Daddy Unlimited and their WOT trigger was just the start but there were also numerous other small companies that decided to jump in on the infringement.
It should be NO surprise to anyone reading this that litigation is EXTREMELY costly. The company President and other principles have heavily invested in defending the rights of “We The People” from the ATF. Now they need our help to try and push this over the line and bring it home.
Rare Breed has joined forces with The National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR) and Texas Gun Rights (TGR). NAGR brought new litigation earlier this week against the ATF and DOJ in the Northern District of Texas asking the court for numerous forms of relief.
That relief sought by the plaintiffs consists of the following:
- Injunctive relief restraining the government from taking any civil or criminal actions against anyone possessing a forced reset trigger.
- Declaratory judgment by the court stating that forced reset triggers are NOT machine guns.
- All FRTs seized or surrendered to the government be returned to their rightful owners, or if destroyed, the rightful owners be compensated for the value of their lost property.
And just so we’re all on the same sheet of music, the type of injunctive relief sought by NAGR and Rare Breed is not unlikely at all as we’ve recently seen similar injunctive relief issued by the court in Firearm Policy Coalition’s pistol brace case.
What NAGR and Rare Breed are asking for is your monetary support to keep up the good fight–against the ATF. NAGR has set up a donation page for this and when you donate, you also get a 1-year NAGR membership.
Now what does that mean for us? Well, “IF” you own a forced reset trigger and “IF” an injunction is granted, as a member of NAGR, that injunctive relief should be extended to you.
This would prevent the DOJ and ATF from pursuing civil and/or criminal actions against you throughout the period of this litigation. This potential benefit alone is worth the price of a NAGR membership.
You can donate and become a member here
Now, to be clear, I am not particularly in favor of the FRT Trigger, and maybe there are some of you who are.
However, I take issue with government agencies that are doing their best to infringe on the Second Amendment.
If you do not like the FRT-15 trigger then you do not need to purchase it but to ban things you constantly do not like is out of control.
This is our opportunity to rise up, fight back, and declare… this is NOT happening Today!
Share your thoughts below!