FPC Statement on Leaked ATF Documents Regarding Forced Reset Trigger Confiscations

By
Dan Zimmerman
-
43

FPC Law is investigating a purported internal ATF email alleging that businesses which manufacture, distribute, or sell ‘forced-reset triggers’—specifically referring to “Rare Breed and Wide-Open Triggers (FRT Trigger).”— will be subject to forfeitures if they do not surrender “documents and FRT’s” [sic].

While the publicly available copy of the email contains several typographical errors and FPC’s understanding is that it has not yet been verified or confirmed by the agency, out of an abundance of caution, FPC suggests that all individuals, entities, and businesses who are now or have been in possession of ‘forced-reset triggers’ consider the below measures through which you may be able to protect and preserve your rights should ATF contact you, visit you, and/or demand that you surrender any item in your possession.

FPC has and will continue to fight to defend and advance the People’s individual rights, liberty, and private property. Visit FPCLaw.org for more information about our litigation, including challenges to unconstitutional acts, policies, and regulations by federal agencies, state and local gun bans, and other matters.

  1. NEVER TALK WITH ANY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER UNLESS ADVISED TO DO SO BY YOUR LAWYER!
  • DO: Politely tell them that you want to speak with or through a lawyer, then stop talking and engage a lawyer.
    • If you are detained or arrested, then seek legal advice immediately. You may wish to inform close family and friends how to contact your lawyer to notify them that you have been detained or arrested.
  • DO NOT: Speak with anyone (including family members) until your lawyer speaks with and advises you.
  • DO NOT: Open doors unless the officers have a warrant. (If they have a warrant then they will use force to gain entry.)
  • DO NOT: Leave your home/property or go outside. (They will likely detain you and prevent you from re-entry until they are done and leave.)
  • DO NOT: Consent to any search.
  1. IF YOU CHOOSE OR ARE FORCED TO PROVIDE PROPERTY TO THE ATF:
  • IF YOU CAN: Have legal counsel represent you and engage with federal agents and the ATF on your behalf.
  • DO NOT volunteer any information or speak with any agent other than to advise them that your property is being provided to them under protest.
  • DO: Attempt to photograph items being surrendered under protest to document the condition of the items at the time of surrender.
  • DO: Ensure that you receive a completed property receipt on ATF Form 3400.23 (Receipt of Property and Other Items).
  • DO: After signing, request a copy and/or photograph the signed copy for your records. ONLY sign ATF Form 3400.23.
  • DO NOT; Sign ATF Form 3400.1 (Consent to Forfeiture or Destruction of Property and Waiver of Notice)!
    • Should you sign Form 3400.1, you voluntarily surrender and relinquish all rights, title, and interest in, and all claims to the property listed on the form!
  • DO: Separately document your experience of the encounter in writing.
    • Note the location, date, and time of your interaction with the ATF agent(s), the names or other identifying information (ID/badge number, contact number, business card, etc.) of all ATF agents or persons you spoke with, the details of all discussions, and any other information they told or provided you.

If you would like FPC Law to consider your issue for potential legal action, call the FPC 2A Hotline at (855) 252-4510 or visit 2Ahotline.com to report the details of the law enforcement encounter, detention, arrest, and/or seizure.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

43 COMMENTS

  1. You have no requirement to sign the receipt for property taken (ATF Form 3400.23). Just accept the receipt when offered, maintain it, make multiple copies and provide one to your attorney.

    • Sounds like very good advice. Sign NOTHING. Demand that Serial Numbers and condition be recorded (legibly)

  3. Since these were considered legal before and could/can be purchased without going through an FFL, what requirement is there for anyone to keep any records of who purchased one of these?

    • There is no such requirement as to “who” only that, for a legal business entity there is a record of a sale as required by law. If you were to walk into a gun store and buy one for cash no one is going to ask you for your identity as a condition of purchasing it, if you use a debit/credit card or check to pay for it that’s another matter because then they may retain your personal information along with the sales record.

      (by the way its not actually, technically, illegal to buy or own one yet, ATF only says it is but in reality they do not have the power of ex-post facto enforcement granted to them by congress or in law or constitutionally so the legalities of this are very suspect)

      • I worked customer service for a large outdoor retailer. I now work sales for another. When I worked CS we could look up receipts for those that used our credit card. We could not if they used another method of purchase. The credit card companies, as far as I know, only have a record of the transaction and not what was purchased. The retailer would probably have similar information. Amount of purchase and date.

      • If the FRTs are made illegal today, it is not a violation of the ex post facto (after the fact) doctrine to seize them even if they were legal when purchased. An ex post facto law is one which criminalizes prior legal conduct. For example, if the law attempted to criminalize your prior legal purchase of an FRT it would violate ex post facto doctrine, but criminalizing your current possession of an item declared illegal is not.

        • Okay, so if you refuse to give up that thing you legally purchased (and they know you have it) what happens?

          They confiscate it, threatening you with arrest, jail time, maybe even death (they are armed, right?) if you don’t comply.

          And yet this somehow doesn’t count as criminalizing prior conduct.

          So…what’s the remedy here? Is there a legal remedy at all? If not, what remedies are available? Political ones, perhaps…and…?

        • avatar Geoff "A day without an apparently brain-damaged mentally-ill demented troll is like a day of warm sunshine" PR

          Publius, Mark is a lawyer in California…

      • If the ATF now considers these triggers to be “machine guns” (which is both factually wrong and outside their authority to simply declare) and are now seizing these triggers, then they clearly don’t give a damn about what you think is unconstitutional or illegal. They just do it.

  4. ” This initial request is for timeframe of Oct. 1, 2022 to present…” ATF , do you know what today’s date is ?

  5. This is both very unprofessional and extreme. A case pending in court has not yet been finally adjudicated. It will be far more beneficial and easier to do if ATF, et al, simply waits for the decision(s) from the court(s) and then if it’s decided these triggers are unlawful folks can surrender them by voluntary compliance. All this drama isn’t needed and absolutely should be avoided. Otherwise the negative accusations made against ATF and other enforcement agencies will be fully realized thus increasing and justifying further hostile animosities towards the government.

    • A certain Youtube boy(CRS Firearms) has been arrested by slow Joe’s AFT. Aligned his goofy self with auto key card & funny trigger’s. Perhaps the time for acquiescing is OVER…I have no skin in this game but some TTAG regulars do.

      • I am pretty boring in terms of collection but yeah silly products or not I hope they win out as they do tend to drive innovation and improvements that hit on other things I do use.

  7. Good move on the e-mail, it is not uncommon for data to be hidden in the body that will permit the leaker to be identified (white text on white background for example).
    Always take a photo of the document so the data is not captured.

    • Pete,

      Oooh, I have never heard of that–white text on a white background embedded in a document or graphical image as a hidden identifier. That is fiendishly clever.

      Thank you for the heads-up.

      • Have also used different punctuation errors for less detectable identification of the more tech savvy (but less grammatically oriented)

      • There is paper with preprinted text that shows up when printed or digitally copied. You will see it if you do.

        WE used this in our ticket business, so people would not try to sell others copies of our tickets, even other agencies. The program was in our storage and we controlled printing. We got burned by unscrupulous people, and had people try to edit tickets to change to better seats.

  9. Sooner or later smiley face Gun Control always manages to display its underbelly history of kkk, nazi racism and genocide. Have your papers in order and be prepared to surrender your,”trigger” or face a train ride to a concentration camp. Sieg Heil.

    And while the aforementioned kind of crap proceeds in America what was described to me as being “crucial” is where on earth a firearm is manufactured. From the looks of Shot Show booths and product quality and performance where on earth a firearm is made is as crucial as a gnat fart in a football stadium.

    For the ho-hum geniuses reading this and assume the stuff Debbie always talks about happened a long time ago and really doesn’t matter. Well geniuses The Second Amendment happened even longer ago…It is crucial for you to Grow Up.

    • You forgot to say “Jim Crow gun control” you insufferable hag. Hearing you make every post about race is just as annoying when wokists make every post about race. FFS, you’re almost as bad to read as Dacian and the other commie trolls at this point.

  10. as of January 13, 2022 > https://www.tactical-life.com/news/rare-breed-triggers/

    Lawrence DeMonico, President of Rare Breed Triggers stated:

    Now that we’ve been granted a preliminary injunction against these two infringing companies, we can shift fire and refocus our efforts on bigger and better things. One, we are still actively engaged in our battle against the DOJ/ATF. And two, we are right around the corner from bringing two new FRT models to market.”

    RBT didn’t see very concerned that the ATF would succeed with being “right around the corner from bringing two new FRT models to market.” – and today it looks like you can order their forced reset trigger, the FRT-15, on their web site and its in stock where as previously when the ATF started with their stuff it was marked out of stock on the web site by RBT even though they were in stock.

    • RBT got a cease and desist that also required them to stop selling the triggers. Yet today they are still for sale, literally, on their web site and in stock. So I’m not sure if something else has changed or RBT is simply fighting back by defying the ATF.

      • According to the update video; RBT has received word word from one dealer in Illinois that late yesterday, 27 Jan 2022, the ATF visited the dealer and hand delivered them a C&D and took the RBT FR-15 triggers although its not known if the dealer simply turned them over voluntarily or they actually confiscated them.

        At any rate, turning over the triggers voluntarily or not, gun confiscation just became a very real possibility reality because if the ATF can use a process not authorized them by Congress or law to classify a trigger as a machine gun when its not a machine gun then there is nothing to stop them from arbitrarily using the same perjury they used in court to classify any semi-auto gun (rifle or pistol) as a machine gun and confiscate those too.

        RBT says another lawsuit to stop the ATF is going to be filed.

        • This is exactly why I paid the $400, assuming half of it went into a legal fund to defend my rights.

  12. All that advice flys out the window when they kick in your door, slam you to the ground and tear your house apart looking for stuff.
    You can squawk lawyer lawyer lawyer until they kick you in the head and shoot you for resisting arrest.

    • of you can just lay out claymores and land mines to keep them from getting to the front door

      😁

  13. DO: Be polite. Use Sir/Ma’am.
    DO: Keep your hands in view at all times. If asked for ID/License, keep one hand in view, and explain that you are reaching for ID.
    DO NOT: Rant, make demands, or be a dick.
    DO NOT: Make sudden movements.
    ESPECIALLY DO NOT: Resist physically or obstruct officers.

    Stay safe! Remember that Law Enforcement is not your friend. Your goal in any encounter should be to avoid getting arrested, beaten, or killed. Anything else can be handled in a court.

    • Why say sir or ma’am? While going out of your way to be an ass isn’t a great idea, they’re not automatically owed respect. As you said, they’re not you’re friend. I can be cordial and conduct myself properly without framing them as my superiors with unwarranted respect..

    • Are you saying that calling them “pedophiles” and “rapists” isn’t a good idea?

      Asking for a friend

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