Illinois joined 15 other states Monday in suing the Trump administration over plans to return forced-reset triggers that were confiscated by federal law enforcement and once again allow them to be sold. The devices are used to make semiautomatic rifles fire faster.
The suit, filed in Maryland, argues the administration’s action violates federal law and poses a threat to residents and law enforcement because of the capacity of the devices to worsen gun violence.
There had been several legal battles over forced-reset triggers, which replace standard triggers on AR-15-style rifles. The government for years had argued that they were illegal machine gun conversion devices because constant finger pressure on the triggers could keep a rifle firing essentially like an automatic.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said he would continue to enforce the ban on the devices through state law that bars owning them and other devices — such as bump stocks — that can also make semiautomatic rifles fire more rapidly.
“The Trump administration’s decision to redistribute devices that convert firearms into machine guns is extreme and would have a devastating effect on the safety of communities across our country,” Raoul said. “ Federal law bans these devices, and this settlement does not change the law. Illinois law is also clear: Forced reset triggers are unlawful. I will continue to enforce the ban on forced reset triggers under Illinois law.”
Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington joined Illinois in the suit.
Forced-reset triggers were previously considered illegal machine guns by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Forearms and Explosives, but the Justice Department reached a settlement with Rare Breed Triggers last month to allow their sale. The company was previously represented by David Warrington, who is now Trump’s White House counsel.
As part of the settlement, Rare Breed Triggers alone agreed not to make equivalent triggers for handguns, but would require the ATF to return triggers that it had seized or that owners had voluntarily surrendered to the government and stop enforcing federal law banning them.
Trump banned bump stocks — similar devices that allow rifles to fire faster — shortly after a gunman fired more than 1,000 rounds in 11 minutes into an outdoor country music festival in 2017 on the Las Vegas Strip, killing 58 people and wounding more than 850 among the crowd of 22,000. Last year the Supreme Court struck down a federal ban on bump stocks and similar devices, though Illinois’ ban remained in place.