VIDEO: AG Jennings Sues Trump Administration to Prevent Efforts to Distribute Thousands of Machine Gun Devices Across Country

Zoom meeting with New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin, DE AG Kathy Jennings and MD AG Anthony Brown.   Comments from Attorney General Kathy Jennings begin at 9:42.  

A coalition of 16 Attorneys General are suing the Trump Administration, and in particular the ATF, over its plans to distribute Forced Reset Triggers (FRT) to communities throughout the country. In mid-May, the Trump administration signed a settlement agreement that promises to stop enforcing federal law against FRTs and that promises to redistribute about 12,000 devices that have been seized by the ATF. This lawsuit seeks to prevent that from occurring because FRTs are illegal to possess under federal law. In Delaware, these conversion devices have been illegal since 2022 and AG Kathy Jennings says that Wilmington has seen historic low rates of gun violence, however re-introducing these devices could have deadly consequences for Delawareans – as well as law enforcement. This lawsuit is co-led by the Attorneys General of Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey and seeks to prevent the redistribution of FRTs because they are prohibited by U.S. law, which prohibits anyone from owning machine guns, including devices that convert firearms into automatic weapons. The coalition will seek a preliminary injunction to halt the Trump administration from distributing FRT devices in ways that directly harm Plaintiff States in contravention of federal law.

Additional information from release from AG Anthony Brown:

“Forced reset triggers turn semi-automatic firearms into weapons of war capable of inflicting devastating impacts on Maryland communities,” said Attorney General Brown. “The Trump administration’s decision to send these previously seized firearms back to Maryland, where they are illegal, makes our neighbors and children more vulnerable to mass shootings. We cannot stand by while the federal government violates its own laws and fuels the gun violence epidemic that has already claimed too many lives.”

The federal government’s plan to return thousands of Forced Reset Triggers (FRTs) will have severe consequences for Maryland. FRTs are illegal under Maryland law and enable shooters to unleash military-style firepower that dramatically increases injury and fatality rates. Their distribution will lead to increased criminal use, greater public safety risks, and higher law enforcement costs.

Maryland will also face a growing healthcare burden: firearm-related injuries already cost the state over $60 million annually, and weapons with an accelerated rate of fire cause more severe injuries, more victims per incident, and long-term trauma for survivors and families. The influx of illegal FRTs into Maryland communities will strain hospitals, traumatize neighborhoods, and force the state to divert more public resources toward law enforcement, training, and emergency preparedness.

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.

Since at least 1975, ATF has classified devices that operate similarly to FRTs as machine guns prohibited by federal law. FRT devices replace the standard trigger on a semiautomatic firearm to allow the shooter to maintain continuous fire with one trigger pull, similar to the operation of fully automatic weapons. Despite the prohibition, in recent years, ATF estimates that at least 100,000 FRTs have been distributed across the country. ATF’s records also establish that machine gun conversion devices, including FRTs, are showing up more often at crime scenes.

Multiple lawsuits seeking either to enforce or challenge the prohibition on FRTs were filed during the Biden administration. A federal judge in New York agreed that FRTs are banned under federal law. A federal judge in Texas disagreed and held that FRTs do not qualify as machine guns under federal law, but that ruling was on appeal.

On May 16, 2025, the Trump administration announced that it has now settled these lawsuits – and done so in a way that eviscerates the federal FRT prohibition. ATF has agreed to abandon its enforcement actions and appeals; promised to stop enforcing the federal ban on machine guns against FRTs, even against individuals and sellers who were not parties to any of these lawsuits; and pledged to redistribute FRTs that it previously seized.

Today’s lawsuit seeks to prevent the redistribution of FRTs because they are prohibited by U.S. law, which prohibits anyone from owning machine guns, including devices that convert firearms into automatic weapons. The lawsuit explains that the federal government cannot violate U.S. law, even when it tries to bury those violations in a settlement agreement. The coalition will seek a preliminary injunction to halt the Trump administration from distributing FRT devices in ways that directly harm Plaintiff States in contravention of federal law.

The lawsuit explains that the redistribution of machine gun conversion devices will permanently threaten public safety nationwide. And as the lawsuit highlights, ATF has even admitted that returning FRTs in states that prohibit them would “aid and abet” violations of state laws. The Attorneys General seek to prevent those harms from occurring.

Attorney General Brown is joined by the attorneys general of New Jersey, Delaware, Colorado, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia in filing this litigation.