dude in Washington dc area got arrested by the ATF for trying to put a turd in a rented range gun. range was in Virginia but I guess they reported him to the ATF and he ended up being a resident of DC.
NAL; NLA; DYOR.
The guy who posted this on Reddit really seems to like the attention.
He didn’t mention it was a DC charge until challenged on it.
Granted D.C. Doesn’t have a FRT ban, it’s the same language as the federal statute.
https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/7-2502.02 - granted all weapons in DC need some form of registration it seems.
I think the ATF is trying to fuck over a nobody to set court precedent on FRTs being machine guns. They went up against Rare Breed’s lawyers - and that proved difficult.
And since they appealed the N.D. Texas case but went to settlement, that N.D. Texas ruling only stands in that district.
The big thing in question is whether he’s getting charged under the VA “Trigger Activators” Law:
https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title18.2/chapter7/section18.2-308.5:1/
None of this changes that The TURD, the SuperSafety, The TX22 FRT, and the FRT15 all comply with federal statute to the letter. The trigger is forced back, and requires a user input to fire again. Only one bullet per trigger pull.
SCOTUS’s Garland v. Cargill - https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/22-976_e29g.pdf
AKA the strike down of the bump stock ban says “like automatic fire” is not a machine gun either.
All said and done, this seems like a lesson in following your local laws - and not being a fucking dumbass.
He literally used a rental rifle and dropped his FRT into it. Then told the RSO he made it himself.
Shut up, don’t say nothing.
This might be a hot take, but considering how authoritarian the government is, regardless of who’s in control, and how many fudd bootlickers love to be RSOs, I wouldn’t test based shit at a range at all.
Do that shit in private out in the wilderness.
Know your range first of all if that’s where you have to shoot. Secondly, don’t put anything you made inside a range rental. That’s not yours to modify. Thirdly, don’t be dumb (or maybe this should be first?).
I will re-iterate, if you want to be dumb/based, do it far away from other people :D
I think very few gun owners know the difference between a FRT and a machine gun. Especially when you just hear BRRRT one lane over.
The RSO probably didn’t care to know either did the fudd thing.
I’m guessing the ATF/Met Police raided him cause someone reported a machine gun at the range.
Our lawyer friend crying wolf only posted the first page of the charging document. The last thing that page says is they got a warrant for his electronic devices.
Who knows maybe he was printing Glock switches and other actual machine guns. Until we get that whole document, and see what they are charging him with, it’s kind up in the air.
This has reminded me that when I’d rent a gun at “The range” in Texas one of their employees would babysit me. No ROs at my range now and even then I’m still looking to put a range in my backyard
Also the Virginia activator law has this and it’s the only part I read and it’s based “D. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a person from manufacturing, importing, selling, offering for sale, possessing, receiving, transferring, or transporting any item for which such person is in compliance with the National Firearms Act (26 U.S.C. § 5801 et seq.).”
FRT are not “NFA compliant” so that section doesnt apply at all. However, this law is specifically why I pushed the various kabuto/turd devs to shift the naming scheme from “activator” to “trigger timing bar”.
