On December 9, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit seemed skeptical regarding the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) classifying forced reset triggers (FRTs) as illegal machine guns. U.S. Circuit Judge Leslie Southwick was seemingly unimpressed by word games and demonstrated unwavering clarity while Justice Department attorney Brad Hinshelwood tried to distract the panel with a half-cocked attempt at sleight-of-hand.
FRTs are after-market triggers that enable shooters to fire a rifle in rapid succession by automatically forcing the trigger forward after the shot, allowing them to quickly actuate the trigger again repeatedly as many times as they choose.
