"Several federal courts have pushed back on the ATF's FRT classification. The Fifth Circuit, in particular, has been skeptical that a trigger device operated by the shooter's finger on every shot can legally qualify as a machine gun under 26 U.S.C. § 5845(b)."

That's the whole ballgame right there. If your finger is still making contact and completing a separate trigger cycle every shot, the statutory definition of a machine gun gets shaky fast. The ATF's 2022 classification always felt like it was outrunning the actual legal standard, and the Fifth Circuit apparently agrees.

"This agreement affects redistribution inside Illinois only — it has no direct legal effect on owners in other states."

So this is essentially Illinois doing Illinois things. If you're in Idaho and you've been following the FRT litigation, nothing about this week's news changes your situation — the federal classification still stands and the court cases that actually matter are still grinding through the system.

The real number to watch is whether a circuit split develops and forces SCOTUS to weigh in. That outcome — not a state AG's press release — is what could actually settle the machine-gun classification question for everyone.

Have you been following the federal FRT cases, and do you think the statutory definition argument has legs if it gets to the Supreme Court?

Read the full article in The Handbook → | By Steve Duskett