So a question was raised, asking if this super safety is similar to the Forced Reset Trigger that the ATF already decided was a machine gun. The ATF has deliberately reworded the statute in order to make it more to their advantage:
On March 25th, 2022 the ATF raided Rare Breed Trigger’s vendor and inhibited them from shipping triggers. Currently, the ATF is trying to classify these triggers themselves as a machine gun. The ATF issued an open letter to Federal Firearms Licensees on March 22 of this year. If you don’t have the time or inclination the read the letter about Forced Reset Triggers, the important part is below:
“ATF’s examination found that some FRT devices allow a firearm to automatically expel more than one shot with a single, continuous pull of the trigger. For this reason, ATF has concluded that FRTs that function in this way are a combination of parts designed and intended for use in converting a weapon into a machine gun, and hence, ATF has classified these devices as a ‘machine gun’ as defined by the NFA and GCA.”
“Accordingly, ATF’s position is that any FRT that allows a firearm to automatically expel more than one shot with a single, continuous pull of the trigger is a ‘machine gun,’ and is accordingly subject to the GCA prohibitions regarding the possession, transfer, and transport of machine guns. They are also subject to registration, transfer, taxation, and possession restrictions under the NFA.”
You will note that ATF even states that Congress defined a machine gun as:
Any weapon which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger
The ATF has engaged in some linguistic gymnastics to say:
FRT devices allow a firearm to automatically expel more than one shot with a single, continuous pull of the trigger.
Note that this isn’t what the statute says. Why is this important?
The FRT, Bump stocks, and the Super Safety all cause the operator of the weapon to hold their finger in position so that the recoil of the weapon causes the shooter’s finger to pull the trigger very quickly.
- In the case of the Bump stock, the entire weapon is moving.
- With the FRT, a spring is forcing the trigger to reset by using the bolt to push the trigger forward
- The Super Safety is using the motion of the bolt to engage and disengage the safety, which on the AR will reset the trigger. The rate of fire is about 400 rounds per minute. Seems fast until you realize that the cyclic rate of the M-16 and the M-249 are right about 800 rounds per minute.
The ATF is going to go after any device that causes rapid fire. The way that an AR’s fire control system works means that it is fairly easy to modify for rapid fire that comes in about half the rate of FA. The ATF would declare all AR’s as machine guns if they thought they could get away with it.
5 Comments
joe · July 24, 2023 at 6:47 pm
it’s coming, just give them time…the left is going to find a way to get them one way or another…they are the masters at changing the meaning of words…
Rick · July 24, 2023 at 8:20 pm
Didn’t the court slap down ATF for going beyond their scope for exactly this? Court decision was witin this last month.
EN2 SS · July 24, 2023 at 10:07 pm
And when, precisely, has any demoncrat/fascist ever cared about anything that disagrees with their agenda?
Don W Curton · July 25, 2023 at 7:08 am
Here’s an idea for them – how about they go round up all the inner-city gangbangers who got that plastic thing on the back of their Glocks first. Cause that appears to be truly illegal, they don’t have to make up wording changes. Just go door to door in the hood, search warrants in hand (cause of social media evidence, they should know where to start looking), and begin confiscation. See how well that goes. Then get back to the AR trigger drama once we got the Glock shit squared away.
Gryphon · July 25, 2023 at 7:23 pm
“The ATF would declare all AR’s as machine guns if they thought they could get away with it.”
Exactly. Like all communists, Redefining Words is a key method of making the ‘law’ mean Whatever the F. the ‘government’ Says it is. Like “Just Us”, the Law must be Obeyed by those Not a part of the ‘government’ Corporation.
These ‘at the margin’ attempts to Ban various Firearm Components are merely the Ramp-Up to a Ban on all Semi-Automatic Arms. IMO, all those ‘accessories’ to alter Trigger Function are just another Point of Failure for the Firearm, and given that an “Itchy Trigger Finger” can make most Semi-Autos Fire faster than it allows for good Controllability, what’s the Point?
My experiences of using (other people’s) Selective-Fire and Full Auto Weapons has been that with few exceptions, “Spray and Pray” just wastes Ammo and makes Noise. Until you get up to a Belt-Fed Gun on a Tripod or Pintle Mount, Full Auto isn’t worth much.
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