The Justice Department submitted a court filing for the ATF on August 31 in consolidated Rare Breed Triggers patent cases in the Eastern District of Texas, stating the bureau wants fewer FRT sales and less distribution. A Texas Gun Rights Foundation review earlier this month had flagged that Rare Breed’s patent suits might aid that same agency.

The new filing tracks a January submission in related litigation against Hoffman Tactical, which later merged into the same multi-district docket; officials said they filed again so the agency’s views remain represented and that silence in any single case should not be read as a change of stance.

The government is not asking the court to treat FRTs as machineguns or to rule on other injunction tests. It does contend that patent injunctions against other makers would advance public safety because those firms are not bound by Rare Breed’s 2025 federal settlement, so that factor should count strongly for the patent holders.