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Experts urge state ban on auto sears, force‑reset triggers and other conversion devices
Summary
A policy attorney from Giffords outlined how bump stocks, auto sears and force‑reset triggers convert semi‑automatic firearms into near‑automatic weapons, cited ATF seizure data and recent court rulings, and urged Oregon to adopt state bans similar to other West Coast states.
Ethan Murray, a policy attorney at Giffords, briefed the Judiciary committees on rapid‑fire conversion devices and urged state action to ban several devices now in circulation.
Murray explained the operational differences among bump stocks, auto sears and force‑reset triggers (FRTs). He noted the Supreme Court recently overturned the ATF regulation classifying bump stocks as machine guns in Garland v. Cargill and said that decision left states with the authority and the opportunity to regulate such devices at the state level.
He described auto sears — small conversion devices often referred to as “Glock switches” — and said ATF data show a large increase in conversion devices recovered between 2019 and 2023. “ATF data shows a 784% increase in machine gun conversion devices like auto sears between 2019 and 2023. They recovered over 30,000,” Murray said. He also explained that force‑reset triggers can mechanically reset the trigger after each shot, producing a rate of fire nearly identical to a machine gun.
Murray said federal administrative regulations that attempted to reclassify some of these devices have been overturned or limited by courts, which leaves state legislatures with the principal ability to ban or restrict them. He urged Oregon to consider statutes like those in Washington and California — states that already ban many of these conversion devices — noting courts have treated the prior federal regulatory actions as administrative rather than constitutional rulings.
No bill text was debated at the hearing; Murray offered to provide additional materials and jurisdictions that have enacted bans.
