GIFFORDS Law Center, Brady urge court to keep machine gun conversion devices out of American communities

WASHINGTON — Today, GIFFORDS Law Center and Brady filed an amicus brief in support of the multi-state lawsuit brought by 16 state attorneys general, led by Attorneys General Platkin (NJ), Jennings (DE), and Brown (MD), challenging the Trump administration’s move to return machine gun conversion devices.  Forced reset triggers convert semi-automatic firearms into machine guns, which have been banned since 1986. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) treated these devices as the machine guns that they are until the Trump administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) agreed to a settlement that allows for the sale of these devices. Now, the DOJ is moving to redistribute devices that had been confiscated, even in states where they are banned. Read the amicus brief here. 

“The Trump administration’s choice to redistribute forced reset triggers that have been removed from our communities is a violation of federal and state laws and will effectively be giving machine guns to civilians across the country. Machine guns have been made illegal for a reason. Their purpose is to help their user shoot and kill as fast as possible. We applaud these states for taking the lead to protect Americans and stop this dangerous erosion of public safety,” said GIFFORDS Executive Director Emma Brown. 

“Machine guns have no place in our communities, and their proliferation violates not only federal law but state laws around the country. The Trump administration’s decision to quietly settle an ongoing court case seeks to obfuscate the real impact: increasing the number of weapons of war on our streets and increasing the ability for those seeking to do harm to kill more people more quickly. With today’s brief, Brady is robustly supporting the fight by 16 attorneys general to prevent this dangerous escalation in our nation’s unhealthy obsession with guns and save American lives,” said Brady Chief Legal Officer Douglas Letter.