Above the Law! #2A – Leak Shows ATF Continues to Disregard Court Orders
In a recent Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) leak released by AmmoLand News and Gun Owners of America (GOA), the government agency shared its fears about 3D-printed machinegun conversion devices (MCD), but not everything the ATF listed is an MCD.
The ATF included the Super Safe AK in its documents, claiming it was in a drop-in auto-sear (DIAS). The issue with that designation is that the Super Safety is not a machinegun or an MCD. It is a forced reset trigger (FRT), and the Bureau might be violating a court order by designating the device as a machinegun in its January 15, 2025, documentation.
Each time a shooter uses the AK Super Safe, they must pull the trigger. The statute definition of a machinegun is a firearm that expels more than one round per function of the trigger. For each function of the trigger, the Super Safety only expels a single round. It does not fit the definition of a machinegun as defined under the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA). The Supreme Court has already ruled that the ATF cannot change the statutory definition of a machinegun in the Cargill case.
The Cargill case involved a bump stock. SCOTUS found that since a shooter must pull the trigger between each round, a bump stock is not a machinegun. The Cargill case has been referenced in NAGR v. Garland, which challenged the ATF’s definition of FRTs as machineguns. In that case, the judge found that only one round is expelled per trigger function. The judge issued an injunction against the ATF from taking enforcement actions against the owners and manufacturers of FRTs. Yet, the ATF is still informing law enforcement agencies that FRTs are…