CHICAGO – Attorney General Kwame Raoul today announced that following his lawsuit as part of a coalition of 16 attorneys general, the Trump administration has committed to exempting the plaintiff states from its illegal plans to distribute thousands of machine-gun conversion devices (MCD) into communities across the United States. The devices, which turn semi-automatic firearms into machine-guns, are illegal under Illinois law.
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According to Raoul, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) made submissions in the litigation expressly confirming to a judge that it will not return forced reset triggers (FRTs) in Illinois or the other plaintiff states. In addition, Rare Breed Triggers, the country’s largest purveyor of FRTs, has confirmed in court filings that it will not sell any FRTs in the plaintiff states. As a result of the critical concessions, the coalition is withdrawing its motion for a preliminary injunction based on a notice that lays out these representations in detail.
“Our coalition filed its lawsuit to prevent machine-gun conversion devices from being redistributed in our communities, and we are pleased the ATF has committed to not sending these dangerous devices to our states,” Raoul said. “I will continue to enforce laws and advocate for policies that protect Illinois residents from gun violence.”
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. The ATF has noted a significant rise in the use of MCDs, leading to increasing incidents of machine-gun fire.
Joining Illinois in the litigation are Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
