A major legal battle over firearm accessories has tilted in favor of gun rights advocates after the Biden-era ATF agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by the National Association for Gun Rights, originally sparked during the Trump administration.
As part of the settlement, roughly 100,000 forced-reset triggers—often mischaracterized as “bump stocks”—must be returned to their rightful owners.
Despite the hyperbolic rhetoric now flooding headlines and courtrooms, these aren’t machine guns, nor do they convert firearms into automatic weapons. Forced-reset triggers function by resetting the trigger mechanism faster, allowing for a more rapid rate of semi-automatic fire. But, crucially, they still require one trigger pull per round fired, just like any standard semi-auto firearm.
Claims that they “convert” a gun into a machine gun are simply false. These claims ignore the clear legal definition of automatic fire and the operational mechanics of the devices. And for those who believe banning such devices somehow enhances public safety, they might want to consider the absurd truth: similar rates of fire can be achieved with a belt loop, rubber band, or even practice.
Naturally, the settlement has triggered outrage from 16 blue-state attorneys general, including Colorado’s Phil Weiser. In a statement brimming with inaccuracy, Weiser declared that forced-reset triggers “turn firearms into weapons of war.”
This is patently untrue. Not only do the devices fail to meet the legal definition of a machine gun, but machine guns themselves are not illegal—just heavily regulated. Law-abiding Americans can own them with proper paperwork and a tax stamp. The problem isn’t legality; it’s ignorance.
This lawsuit is based on fear-driven fiction, not technical or legal reality. It is nothing more than political theater, designed to appeal to a base that knows little about firearms but responds well to moral panic.
It’s worth noting that rifles—modified or not—are rarely used in crimes. FBI statistics have consistently shown that hands, fists, and blunt objects kill more people annually than all rifles combined. Yet the political left remains obsessed with demonizing the AR-15, even as they ignore functionally identical firearms that simply look less intimidating.
Why? Because it’s not about function—it’s about fear and optics. It’s about pushing gun control through emotional manipulation, not evidence-based policy.
