New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin has announced a resolution in a lawsuit involving machine-gun conversion devices (MCDs). The Trump Administration has agreed to exclude New Jersey from its plans to distribute these devices across the United States.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) confirmed to a judge that it will not return Forced Reset Triggers (FRTs) to New Jersey or other states involved in the litigation. Rare Breed Triggers, the largest seller of FRTs, also confirmed it will not sell these devices in those states. Consequently, the coalition is withdrawing its motion for a preliminary injunction based on this confirmation.
“These commitments are a major victory for the residents of New Jersey and our partner states who would have been endangered by thousands of machine-gun conversion devices being put out on our streets,” said Attorney General Matt Platkin. “Our strong common-sense gun safety laws and actions have already led to years of record-low shootings, and the commitments we have secured since filing our lawsuit will protect our residents from deadly automatic weapons. I will never hesitate to stand up and fight for their safety.”
Machine-gun conversion devices like FRTs increase a firearm’s rate of fire and have been linked to violent crimes and mass shootings. They can enable firearms to fire up to 20 bullets per second, surpassing many military machine guns’ rates. The ATF has observed an increase in MCD use leading to more incidents involving machine-gun fire.
This legal action was initiated by Attorney General Platkin and his coalition partners in June. They sought to prevent the ATF from halting federal law enforcement against FRTs and redistributing seized FRTs.
In New Jersey, Solicitor General Jeremy Feigenbaum along with Deputy Solicitor Generals Shankar Duraiswamy, Marie Cepeda Mekosh, Chris Ioannou, Max Lesser, Justine Longa, Amanda McElfresh, Nathaniel Rubin, and Lucy Sprague are handling this case.
The coalition includes New Jersey as well as Delaware, Maryland, Colorado, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont Washington D.C., among others.
