Judge rules against maker of triggers
Says firm likely misled customers on legality
A company that sold triggers that make semiautomatic, AR-15-style rifles fire like automatic weapons likely misled consumers that the devices were legal, and it continued selling them even after being warned by the U.S. government, a federal judge in New York ruled Tuesday.
The judge barred Rare Breed Triggers from selling any more of its forced-reset triggers until further notice – a blow to the company’s defense against the government’s civil fraud lawsuit, which remains pending.
“The Court concludes that the Government is likely to succeed on the merits of its claims,” U.S. District Judge Nina Morrison wrote, adding that the company “placed tens of thousands of their customers at risk of criminal prosecution and the loss of their right to own firearms.”
Rare Breed Triggers and its lawyers are disappointed by the ruling and are considering how to respond, said David Warrington, one of the company’s lawyers. He also noted the ruling is not a final decision in the lawsuit.
“It is just a preliminary ruling made on a partial, truncated record,” Warrington said in an email to The Associated Press. “This is just the beginning of a long fight and Rare Breed is assessing its next steps.”
Federal authorities sued the company in January, alleging its FRT-15 triggers qualify as illegal machine guns under federal law and regulations. The government’s lawsuit seeks a permanent ban on selling the triggers.
Rare Breed argues the triggers are legal.
The classification of Rare Breed’s FRT-15 triggers as machine guns by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also is being challenged in a lawsuit filed in Texas by the National Association for Gun Rights.
Forced-reset triggers are among a number of accessories, including bump stocks and auto sears, that increase the firing speed of semiautomatic firearms and have drawn concern from federal and local law enforcement officials worried about mass shootings and other gun violence.
In court filings, the ATF said testing on Rare Breed’s FRT-15s showed their rate of fire can meet or exceed that of the military’s M-16 machine gun, which can fire 700 to 970 rounds a minute. The ATF says the triggers are machine guns because they fire more than one round with one pull of the trigger.
Rare Breed Triggers, founded in Florida and now based in Fargo, North Dakota, has sold about 100,000 FRT-15s since December 2020, taking in $39 million in revenue, according to court filings. The devices have generally been sold at just under $400 apiece and take only minutes to install.
Other representatives of Rare Breed Triggers, including its owner, Kevin Maxwell, and its president, Lawrence DeMonico, did not immediately return messages seeking comment Tuesday.