Two agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) came to Fayette County on August 25 and confiscated an aftermarket gun trigger from a local man who purchased it online.
Deputies from the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office escorted the ATF agents to the man’s home and stood by as the federal agents took a forced reset trigger made for the AR-15 platform of rifles. Dobbins’ trigger was sold under the brand name Wide Open Trigger by the company Big Daddy Unlimited.
“They said I might be in violation of federal law,” said Chris Dobbins, 22 of La Grange. “They said I could be indicted on a federal charge, that I’d have to stand in front of the federal government, and that I’d be sitting for 10 years over something I bought legally.”
Dobbins said the ATF agents did not have a warrant to take the trigger. The agents did not compensate Dobbins for the cost, which he said was $300. Dobbins handed over the trigger and said the agents asked him to sign consent forms, which he refused to sign. Dobbins said he did sign an inventory form documenting that the agents took his property.
Dobbins’ case isn’t unique. The ATF has been knocking on a lot of doors ever since the Bureau issued a letter back in March declaring that forced reset triggers (FRTs) are actually machineguns and thus violate the National Firearms Act. Congress did not vote on this change. And the ruling came after the triggers appeared on the market. Thousands of people across the nation, just like Dobbins, purchased them before the ATF issued its ruling. One manufacturer, Rare Breed Triggers, has sued the ATF over the ruling.
Dobbins said he purchased his trigger in late January, before the ATF’s letter came out in March.
“I don’t want anyone who has one to get caught with a felony over something that was legal,” Dobbins said.
Forced reset triggers (FRTs) force the trigger reset by pushing the finger forward, so a semi-automatic AR-15 can be more quickly fired. The effect is similar to that of the “bump stocks” that former President Donald Trump banned by executive order following the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. Several manufacturers designed FRTs to avoid violating the definition of a “machinegun” in the National Firearms Act.
“It’s fun to shoot,” said Dobbins when the Record asked about why he bought the trigger. “It just lets you shoot really fast.”
Ammoland.com, a shooting sports news website, reported in August that the ATF acquired information about customers The publication said it was unknown how ATF got the customer information. However, the article said all of the people whom the ATF visited had purchased their triggers either directly from one of the manufacturers, Rare Breed Triggers, or the website Gunbroker.com. Dobbins said he purchased his Big Daddy Unlimited trigger from the Gunbroker website.
“(The agents) knew everything about it,” Dobbins said. “They knew when I bought it and who I bought it from.”
Critics say the ATF’s ruling violates the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and that only Congress can change firearm laws in the United States. Supporters of the ATF’s ruling say the triggers allow anyone to convert a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle into a fully-automatic machinegun that civilians should not own. Dobbins said he believes the ATF violated his Second Amendment right by taking the trigger. But he wasn’t willing to risk 10 years in prison over it. Dobbins said he has no criminal record. Dobbins said he has purchased firearms legally and undergone the required national background checks without any problems. Some local gun owners are questioning whether the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office should assist the ATF with these kinds of seizures from law-abiding citizens of Fayette County. Sheriffs in several other counties across Texas have said they will not assist federal agents who come to their counties to enforce federal gun laws.
Three years ago, Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe went so far as saying, “As Sheriff of Kinney County, I would meet ATF and the FBI at the county line and deny them access to the county to violate the Second Amendment.”
Dozens of counties in Texas have declared themselves Second Amendment Sanctuaries, pledging not to enforce what they consider to be unconstitutional gun laws. Fayette County has not done so. Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill into law last year designating Texas as a Second Amendment Sanctuary State. The law prohibits the state or local governments in Texas from enforcing any new federal gun laws, specifically any new federal firearm registry, new licensing requirements, background checks on private transfers, and confiscation or buyback programs. If a local law enforcement agency such as a sheriff’s office violates the law, they risk losing state funding.
“Supposedly (the agents) couldn’t find my house, so the Sheriffs had to show them where I live,” Dobbins said.
It’s unclear how the law applies to the ATF’s recent seizures of forced reset triggers.
The incident has drawn so much attention in recent weeks that the Sheriff’s Office issued a statement about it on Tuesday, Oct. 18.
According to the statement, Sgt. Ron Naumann was inside the Lone Star Rebels Guns Store and heard Dobbins talking about a phone call he got from an individual identifying himself as an ATF agent. The agent wanted to talk to Dobbins about a trigger he had purchased. Naumann offered to call the person to confirm whether he was in fact an ATF agent.
The statement said Naumann called the agent, and the agent offered to meet with deputies so they could confirm his identity, and then meet with Dobbins about the trigger. Dobbins agreed to the meeting. On the day of the meeting, the statement said, deputies met with the agent and confirmed his identity.
“Later at the residence, deputies maintained a standby position due to Mr. Dobbin’s concerns regarding the ATF, and did not participate in any seizure or federal enforcement action,” said the statement from the Sheriff’s Office. “The ATF conducted their business with Mr. Dobbins, while deputies had a friendly conversation with other family members on the scene.”
Dobbins said he was pleased with how the Sheriff’s Office handled the encounter.
“I think they did the right thing,” Dobbins said. “In that situation, I don’t think there’s really much they could do against the ATF.”
The Record interviewed Korenek on Tuesday and asked for his views about assisting the ATF with seizures in Fayette County.
“It depends on what it is,” Korenek said. “If it’s something I think they’re in the right on, then I’ll probably go with them. If I think they’re in the wrong, then I’m not going to go with them.”
Last year, Abbott signed another gun-related law that removed the state’s ban on possession of firearm suppressors, sometimes known as “silencers.” Federal law allows individuals to own suppressors as long as they file paperwork with the ATF, pass a background check and pay for a $200 tax stamp. Those federal requirements also apply for the sale of a used suppressor between private individuals. This puts suppressor-owning Texans in a legal gray area. Texans are free to own suppressors without any restrictions according to state law, but they could be in violation of federal law if they didn’t file the right paperwork or pay for a tax stamp.
“If I know it’s a clear violation – everybody knows you can’t own an illegal machinegun – I’ll probably enforce that,” Korenek said. “But now let’s say it’s a suppressor that’s not legally purchased or whatever, then maybe not.”
Korenek said he believes Dobbins should be compensated for losing his property.
“Restitution ought to be paid back to him and anyone else who purchased those,” Korenek said. “From what I understand, (the ATF) has been doing a lengthy investigation on that company, building a case. Once they had enough information, they got a search warrant. They went in there and seized records, and that’s how they found out who purchased them.
“Now they’re trying to get them off the street,” Korenek added. “You’d think that once they get restitution from the company or the person who sold them, they should give restitution back to all the victims who bought them.”
Korenek expressed concern about the ATF issuing rulings that certain firearm accessories are illegal after those products hit the market and law-abiding citizens purchase them.
“I’ve purchased some things, and if they come in and rule them illegal afterwards, I think they would have a fight on their hands trying to take them,” Korenek said. “I may lose, but you have to make a stand somewhere.”
Dobbins said he has little hope he’ll ever get compensation for the trigger.
The Record reached out to the ATF agents’ field office in Houston for comment about the seizure. The Record asked the ATF if there were any other FRTs sold to Fayette County residents. The ATF did not respond to our inquiry.
