Mass. AG Campbell sues Trump admin over plan to distribute machine gun conversion tech

Yahoo

09-06-2025

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea J. Campbell is taking the Trump administration to court — again. This time over a plan to distribute thousands of machinegun conversion devices to communities across the United States.
The suit, filed by Campbell and 16 state attorneys general nationwide, specifically targets the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
In a statement, Campbell's office said the ATF's action involves so-called 'Forced Reset Triggers,' which allow shooters to reach the firepower of a military-grade machine gun.
The federal agency previously had classified the devices as machine guns, keeping them off the streets and out of the hands of gun owners.
However, the ATF, under a directive from the White House, signed a settlement agreement that would stop enforcing federal law against the FRTs, as they're known, and would redistribute thousands of the devices the agency had previously seized.
The multistate litigation seeks to prevent that imminent redistribution, because FRTs are illegal to possess under federal law, Campbell's office said.
'Weapons of war and tools of mass destruction like FRTs have no place or purpose in everyday society—nor in any home, community, or school within the Commonwealth,' Campbell said in a statement.
Read More: This $150 device turns pistols into machine guns. Here's why Mass. should worry
'The ATF's actions are a direct assault on every American's inalienable right to feel safe in their homes, schools, and grocery stores—free from the fear or threat of gun violence. I will continue to defend enforcement against FRTs and fight to protect the safety and well-being of Commonwealth residents.'
The lawsuit argues that the federal government cannot violate U.S. law, even when it tries to bury those violations in a settlement agreement.
Campbell and the other state attorneys general are seeking a a preliminary injunction to halt the Trump Administration from distributing the devices 'in ways that directly harm plaintiff states in contravention of federal law,' they argued.
Machine gun conversion devices such as the FRTs have been frequently used in violent crimes and mass shootings, Campbell's office said, contributing to worsening gun violence.
Firearms equipped with the conversion devices can exceed the firing rate of many military machine guns, firing up to 20 bullets per second.
The ATF has noted a 'significant' rise in the use of the devices, leading to a 1,400% increase between 2019 and 2021, Campbell's office said.
The ATF has classified devices that act similarly to FRTs as machine guns since at least 1975, which means they've been banned under federal law.
Even so, the ATF has estimated that at least 100,000 FRTs have been distributed across the country. And they have been showing up more often at crime scenes, Campbell's office said.
Last month, the Trump administration announced that it had settled Biden-era litigation dealing with the devices, doing so in a way that 'eviscerates' the existing prohibition in federal law, Campbell's office said.
In addition to Massachusetts, attorneys general from Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai'i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington State, also are participating in the litigation.
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Read the original article on MassLive.