Gun control advocates alarmed as US Justice dept deal ends ban on aftermarket trigger

Gun control advocates say the settlement would worsen gun violence

- MPOST BUREAU

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration will allow the sale of forced-reset triggers, which make semiautomatic rifles fire more rapidly, with the federal government ending a long-standing ban as part of a settlement that also requires it to return seized devices.

The agreement announced Friday by the Justice Department resolves a series of cases over the aftermarket trigger that the government had previously argued qualify as machine guns under federal law.

The settlement is a dramatic shift in Second Amendment policy under the Republican administration, which has signaled it may undo many of the regulations that the previous administration of Democratic President Joe Biden had fought to keep in place in an effort to curb gun violence.