Armed agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) are going door-to-door to confiscate forced reset triggers (FRT’s), viral video of one encounter shows. It is unclear how the ATF knows who purchased the devices.
On Monday, ATF agents showed up on the doorstop of the self-described owner of Moonlight Industries, an Arizona-based company that makes low visibility chest rigs. Moonlight Industries did not immediately respond to American Military News’ request for comment.
“Were you expecting us?” one ATF agent asks in the viral video.
“The reason why we’re here is because I’m sure you’re aware that just recently the ATF classified FRT’s, the forced reset triggers, as machine guns,” she continues. “So we are aware that you may have purchased some of these FRT’s, so now we are having the whole agency reaching out to these purchasers…and we have to pick them up.”
The owner of Moonlight Industries responds that he won’t answer any of the agents’ questions, nor does he have any comments on the situation.
“Are you refusing to give us the triggers?” the second ATF agent asks.
“I’m not refusing anything,” the owner responds. “I won’t be answering any questions.”
The first agent then reiterates that the ATF knows the owner of Moonlight Industries purchased FRT’s. It is unclear how the ATF obtained information on the owner’s private purchases.
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“You wouldn’t be in trouble if you just give those up to us. Or if you sold them, you can tell me you sold them. Again, you’re not going to be in trouble for that,” the agent says. “So we’re just here, honestly, just to pick them up.”
The second agent later adds that he “doesn’t want to be here anymore than you want me to be here.”
“The problem is that you are the people who go and knock on the doors, right?” Moonlight Industries’ owner, maintaining a calm demeanor, responds. “The citizens are speaking but the government is making their decisions on what they think. They’re not being servants to the citizens.”
The video was first posted on Moonlight Industries’ Instagram page and has since been viewed on Twitter over 1.3 million times.
The attempted confiscation comes after the ATF reclassified FRT’s last year as “machineguns” under the National Firearms Act (NFA), and “machineguns” under the Gun Control Act (GCA).
“Based on ATF’s determination that the FRTs that function as described above are ‘machineguns’ under the NFA and GCA, ATF intends to take appropriate remedial action with respect to sellers and possessors of these devices. Current possessors of these devices are encouraged to contact ATF for further guidance on how they may divest possession. If you are uncertain whether the device you possess is a machinegun as defined by the GCA and NFA, please contact your local ATF Field Office. You may consult the local ATF Office’s webpage for office contact information,” the ATF said in a notice last year.
No federal laws were passed banning FRT’s or redefining the devices as “machineguns.”
