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gun industry
Gun Reform Groups Warn Trump Admin Settlement on Trigger Device 'Paves the Way for Mass Violence'
Gun violence prevention groups say that the "forced-reset triggers," which allow semiautomatic rifles to fire more quickly, effectively turn rifles into machine guns.
May 18, 2025
The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday announced that it settled litigation centering on "forced-reset triggers," devices that allow semiautomatic rifles to fire faster, and which gun violence prevention groups warn effectively turn semiautomatic rifles into machine guns.
Some gun reform groups said on Friday that the move effectively legalizes machine guns.
The settlement allows the sale of forced-reset triggers. Under the terms of the settlement, a manufacturer of the device, Rare Breed Triggers, will be allowed to sell the devices but will not be allowed to design them for use in a pistol, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). The company also agreed to enforce its patent to ward off infringement.
Under former President Joe Biden, some of the devices were classified by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives in 2022 as machine guns, which are illegal under federal law.
In 2023, the DOJ sued Rare Breed Triggers, leading to a ruling that blocked the company from selling the devices. Separately, the National Association for Gun Rights sued over the DOJ's classification of the devices as machine guns. Last year, a federal judge ruled in favor of the National Association for Gun Rights and struck down the ban.
According to the Friday announcement from the DOJ, the settlement resolves both of those cases, which were on appeal.
Brady, a gun violence prevention group, condemned the settlement and said in a statement on Friday that it "benefits the gun industry, circumvents gun laws, and paves the way for mass violence."
"The Trump Administration's secret settlement with the gun lobby to permit the sale of Forced Reset Triggers will turn already deadly firearms into weapons of mass destruction," said Kris Brown, the president of Brady. "This dangerous backroom deal is not only an astonishing abuse of power, but undermines decades of sensible government gun safety policy and puts whole communities at immediate serious risk."
"The Trump administration has just effectively legalized machine guns. Lives will be lost because of his actions," said Vanessa Gonzalez, vice president of government and political affairs at Giffords, another gun violence prevention group.
"This move puts our communities in danger. Machine guns have no place on our streets," wrote the group Everytown for Gun Safety on Friday.
The settlement aligns with an executive order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump in February, which directed the attorney general to look at orders, guidance, and other actions by entities in the executive branch to "assess any ongoing infringements" of rights under the Second Amendment.
"This Department of Justice believes that the Second Amendment is not a second-class right," said Attorney General Pam Bondi in a statement on Friday.
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My Best Friend Died By Firearm Suicide; Here’s Why I Advocate for Stronger Gun Safety Laws
With just one month until election day, it’s time for American voters to come together and elect leaders who will fight to protect our communities from gun violence.
Oct 05, 2024
Warning: This piece discusses suicide, gun violence, and mental health. If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org/chat to chat with a counselor from the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
Last year, I received a text that would change my life forever. I was told that my close friend, Jordan, had died by firearm suicide. Calls from classmates came crashing in and emails from my school flooded my inbox. A wave of shock rushed over me and it felt like time had frozen, even as I watched the world continue on.
My school held an assembly to honor Jordan’s memory, but it all became a blur between the tears, hugs, tissues, and funeral.
Jordan holds a special place in my heart. Not only because we were on the same lacrosse team, but because she was a shining light and a good friend. She was always there for me when I needed her, but little did I know Jordan was battling a thunderstorm on the inside.
Amidst all my grief, there was a part of me that was also angry because politicians sent their condolences, but no action was taken. I wanted something to change.
There are thousands of students and young people just like me across the country who are committed to creating a future free from gun violence.
The tragedy of this story isn’t just about Jordan; it’s the fact that her story is not unique. When there are over 3,000 young people who die by gun suicide in an average year, something has to change. Stronger gun safety measures, like secure storage requirements, in our country can save lives and prevent more friends and families from feeling the pain I’ve felt.
Firearm suicide has a deadly and devastating impact on my generation. Over the past decade, gun suicide rates for young people have increased faster than any other age group, reaching a near-record high. When it comes to attempted suicide, guns are especially deadly. We have to do more to reduce easy access to guns in a moment of crisis since the majority of people who survive a suicide attempt don’t go on to attempt again.
Those statistics should be a wake-up call for every gun owner, politician, and person in the United States on why it’s so important to prevent firearm access for someone contemplating suicide. That’s where laws like secure storage requirements come in.
Secure storage is the practice of gun owners making their homes and communities safer by storing their guns securely. This means storing a firearm unloaded, locked, and separate from ammunition. Research shows that most firearm suicides attempted by youth occur at home, and households that securely store guns and ammunition reduce this risk by 78% comapared to those that don’t.
There is a direct correlation between securely storing a gun at home and saving a life from firearm suicide. That’s why we need lawmakers at every level of government to increase awareness around secure storage practices and pass laws that require gun owners to store their guns securely.
With just one month until election day, it’s time for American voters to come together and elect leaders who will fight to protect our communities from gun violence. From electing Vice President Harris and Governor Walz at the top of the ticket to voting for gun sense candidates down ballot, these are the candidates that are fighting to end gun violence while the other side is doing absolutely nothing.
Even in the face of tragedy, I still have hope. Firearm suicide, just like all forms of gun violence, is preventable.
After the loss of my best friend, I felt devastated and I wanted to find a community that shared my similar experiences. I soon discovered Students Demand Action, the nation's largest youth-led gun prevention group, and started a chapter at my school. Since then, I have been actively involved in fighting for gun violence prevention in California, and I’m just getting started.
We should all be aware of the warning signs and how to help when someone is in crisis. Whether it’s having a private conversation to let someone know you’re there for them or sharing mental health resources, that one step could save a life.
There are thousands of students and young people just like me across the country who are committed to creating a future free from gun violence. Guns are the leading cause of death for my generation, meaning youth firearm suicide is just one piece of a much larger puzzle. When guns are accessible to anyone, anywhere, at any time—no one is safe.
But even in the face of tragedy, I still have hope. Firearm suicide, just like all forms of gun violence, is preventable. Joining Students Demand Action allowed me to turn my pain into purpose and together, we can end America’s gun violence epidemic by creating a future for our generation that’s free from gun violence.Keep ReadingShow Less
Good Riddance to Wayne LaPierre—and Hopefully Soon the Entire NRA
For the first time, the NRA can’t buy their way out of this problem.
Mar 05, 2024
After a 30-year reign of terror and corruption, not even the NRA wants anything to do with their long-time leader, Wayne LaPierre.
In their opening arguments of the civil trial in New York—where a jury recently found LaPierre and the NRA liable for corruption—an attorney for the gun lobby said “The NRA is not this man” and called LaPierre’s resignation a “course correction.” No wonder they’d want one: The NRA is worse by every measure today than it was three decades ago when LaPierre turned the former sportsmen’s club into a radical political lobbying group. He is the architect behind the nation’s gun violence epidemic, leading the NRA’s reckless and profit-driven quest to put guns in the hands of as many Americans as possible that has stained its reputation beyond repair—all while abusing the meaning of the Second Amendment to selfishly line his own pockets. For his efforts, today, the NRA is broke, rudderless, and in serious legal jeopardy.
The NRA has lost over a million members. Membership dues are down by $14 million. And their lobbying influence has been waning since 2015.
Perhaps the only measure on which they’ve been successful is the amount of firepower pumped into our communities. Yearly gun sales are now roughly twice the level they were 15 or 20 years ago, and the tragic toll of gun-related deaths has skyrocketed with it. Under LaPierre’s watch, the number of gun suicides and gun murders reached record highs and active shooter incidents became drastically more common across the country-–-about seven times more common than in Canada, and 340 times more common than in the United Kingdom.
During this time, the NRA slowly lost the support of America. As gun violence shattered more and more families, public sentiment turned on them. A majority of U.S. adults now say gun laws should be stricter. About a third (32%) of parents with K-12 students say they are very or extremely worried about a shooting ever happening at their children’s school. And six in 10 Americans (61%) say it is too easy to legally obtain a gun in this country.
We’ve watched mass shooting after mass shooting devastate communities across the nation, from Orlando to El Paso to Boulder to Lewiston–each event and each death presenting an opportunity for the NRA to muster an ounce of courage and change the gun culture in this country that they single-handedly controlled. How did they respond instead?
On December 14, 2012, after a gunman shot and killed 20 children and six staff members at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, LaPierre coined his infamous "good guy with a gun” argument. A decade later when nineteen children and two adults were killed in the deadliest school shooting in Texas history at Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022, the NRA held their annual convention across the state in Houston days later defending Americans' right to own a gun.
The NRA is no longer the political powerhouse it once was, but the damage done is irreparable. The notion of a course correction is so far from possible. No reasonable person with any ambition would want to take LaPierre's job and inherit the mess he leaves behind—the personal reputation and professional risk are too high.
We would send our thoughts and prayers to LaPierre—but, this isn’t just about him. The gun violence prevention movement and the survivors of armed violence cannot move on, and neither can he. Every empty seat at the dinner table. Every birthday-turned-anniversary. Every stolen milestone. He will always hold responsibility. The scars of his legacy are irreparable and his damage to the organization makes it unsalvageable.
We wish we could give LaPierre all the credit for the downfall of the NRA—but, proudly, the gun violence prevention movement played a role as well. Guns Down America has fought back against the NRA and LaPierre’s agenda since our inception, from leading the “murder insurance” effort that fined the NRA $7 million to influencing Wells Fargo to break ties with the NRA contributing to the steady decline in relevance and influence.
For the first time, the NRA can’t buy their way out of this problem. So as one last parting gift to the organization in decline, we’ll offer them a free piece of advice: Sell your gun range at HQ in Virginia—maybe you’ll be able to afford your legal fees.
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