Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

A First Look at Fresno State’s Quarterback Battle

3 days ago

Israeli Columnist Alleges Ethnic Cleansing Plan in Gaza

3 days ago

Tesla to Roll out Bay Area Robotaxis With Safety Drivers, Report Says

3 days ago

Thailand and Cambodia Exchange Heavy Artillery Fire as Border Battle Expands

3 days ago

California Cannot Require Background Checks to Buy Ammunition, US Appeals Court Rules

4 days ago

TikTok Will Go Dark in US Without Chinese Approval of Sale Deal, Lutnick Says

4 days ago

Fresno County Authorities Still Searching for Missing Mother and Infant

4 days ago
Cop Killer Used a Binary Trigger. Here's What to Know About the Deadly Device
By admin
Published 2 years ago on
July 25, 2023

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Sitting in a parked car with an arsenal of weapons and ammunition, the man who fired on police officers in North Dakota earlier this month chose to use the one gun in his vehicle that was modified with a binary trigger. The device allowed the gun to fire so rapidly that it sounded like an automatic weapon.

The July 14 shooting in Fargo, which killed one officer and wounded two others and a civilian, has put a spotlight on the device and other trigger modifications that are a growing concern for law enforcement.

Mohamad Barakat, 37, opened fire on the officers as they responded to a car accident. He shot from his vehicle loaded with guns, a homemade grenade, gasoline canisters, propane tanks containing improvised explosives, and more than 1,800 rounds of ammunition, police said. Barakat was killed by a fourth officer who returned fire.

North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley said on Friday that he believes the violence could have been the beginning of a bigger attack, as the Downtown Fargo Street Fair and the Red River Valley Fair were underway.

Wrigley noted that Barakat had four semi-automatic handguns and three semi-automatic rifles, but only one of them — the one he picked to go on his shooting rampage — had a binary trigger.

Here’s a look at the device, regulations around binary triggers and how they differ from bump stocks:

What Are Binary Triggers?

A binary trigger is a modification that allows a weapon to fire one round when the trigger is pulled and another when it is released — in essence doubling the firing capacity, firearms experts and weapons manufacturers say.

The modifications are relatively inexpensive, running a few hundred dollars depending on the model. They are also a relatively new technology, first released in 2015 partly in response to federal regulators seeking to expand the scope of banning modifications that create automatic weapons.

What Regulations Exist on Binary Triggers?

They are legal in most states and at the federal level. Federal regulations don’t yet cover the sale of binary trigger modifications, said Robert Spitzer, a professor at the College of William & Mary Law School whose research focuses on gun policy and politics.

“It’s a matter of technology outrunning regulation, which is not a new thing,” Spitzer said.

Some states do ban the purchase of binary triggers specifically or modifications like binary triggers generally. The manufacturer websites note that they cannot sell them to civilians in 12 states, including California, New York, Florida and others or in Washington D.C. At least one other state not listed on the seller websites has a partial ban on similar modifications, firearm law experts said.

How Do Binary Triggers Differ From Bump Stocks?

Bump stocks are a frame or component added onto the back of semi-automatic weapons that allow them to fire like machine guns by using the recoil from an initial trigger pull to fire multiple rounds.

Under former President Donald Trump’s administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives moved to ban bump stocks after the 2017 mass shooting at a Las Vegas music festival where a gunman using bump stock-modified weapons killed 60 people. Federal regulators argued that bump stocks fell under 1934 and 1986 federal regulations on automatic weapons.

The ban survived multiple challenges around the country until January, when a U.S. Appeals Court in New Orleans ruled in favor of challengers who argued the federal regulations against machine guns don’t specifically cover bump stocks.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has also made moves to regulate what are called “forced reset triggers,” saying they also created, in essence, machine guns out of semi-automatic weapons by adding a spring to a trigger, allowing it to reset and fire faster.

Greg Wallace, a professor at the Campbell University Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law who has studied firearm laws, said binary triggers work on a completely different mechanism than forced reset triggers. He said binary triggers modify the component of the trigger that holds the hammer or striking mechanism back.

Wallace said he agreed with several articles that have called binary triggers a gimmick “having little, if any, practical real-world use.”

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Visalia Police Arrest Wanted Man Following DUI Traffic Stop and Chase

DON'T MISS

Trump, EU’s Von Der Leyen to Meet on Sunday to Clinch Trade Deal

DON'T MISS

Israel Announces Daily Pauses in Gaza Fighting as Aid Airdrops Begin

DON'T MISS

California School Board Resigns After Audit Reveals $180M in Improper Funding

DON'T MISS

NASA Says 20% of Workforce to Depart Space Agency

DON'T MISS

Frustration, Gaza Alarm Drove Macron to Go It Alone on Palestine Recognition

DON'T MISS

Trump Golfs in Scotland as Epstein Questions Persist

DON'T MISS

Visalia Police Arrest Armed Robbery Suspect at Long John Silver’s

DON'T MISS

Grand Rising Brings Sober Day Party Vibes to Fresno

DON'T MISS

Jack McAuliffe, Who Started a Craft Beer Revolution, Dies at 80

UP NEXT

Trump, EU’s Von Der Leyen to Meet on Sunday to Clinch Trade Deal

UP NEXT

Trump Golfs in Scotland as Epstein Questions Persist

UP NEXT

Visalia Police Arrest Armed Robbery Suspect at Long John Silver’s

UP NEXT

US Judge Reaffirms Nationwide Injunction Blocking Trump Executive Order on Birthright Citizenship

UP NEXT

White House Will Release $5.5 Billion for Schools, After Surprise Delay

UP NEXT

US States to Get $608 Million From FEMA to Build Migrant Detention Centers

UP NEXT

Trump: Strong Dollar Sounds Good but ‘You Make a Hell of a Lot More’ With a Weaker One

UP NEXT

Fresno Police Arrest Felon in Connection With Drive-by Shooting

UP NEXT

Trump Says US May Not Have a Negotiated Trade Deal With Canada

UP NEXT

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Julian Jay Haymon

California School Board Resigns After Audit Reveals $180M in Improper Funding

2 days ago

NASA Says 20% of Workforce to Depart Space Agency

2 days ago

Frustration, Gaza Alarm Drove Macron to Go It Alone on Palestine Recognition

2 days ago

Trump Golfs in Scotland as Epstein Questions Persist

2 days ago

Visalia Police Arrest Armed Robbery Suspect at Long John Silver’s

2 days ago

Grand Rising Brings Sober Day Party Vibes to Fresno

2 days ago

Jack McAuliffe, Who Started a Craft Beer Revolution, Dies at 80

2 days ago

Fresno Crash Leaves One Dead After Car Submerges in Canal

2 days ago

Lemoore Farmers Fed Up With Lack of Representation on Groundwater Agency

2 days ago

‘Jenny from the Block’ Rescued After Camping Out by Calwa ATM

2 days ago

Visalia Police Arrest Wanted Man Following DUI Traffic Stop and Chase

A 20-year-old man was arrested early Saturday morning after leading officers on a pursuit into Tulare County, authorities said. Just after 1...

15 hours ago

Visalia police arrested a 20-year-old man with multiple felony warrants early Saturday after he fled a DUI traffic stop, leading officers on a pursuit into Tulare County that ended with spike strips and a CHP PIT maneuver. (Visalia PD)
15 hours ago

Visalia Police Arrest Wanted Man Following DUI Traffic Stop and Chase

President Donald Trump attends a bilateral meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during the 50th World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 21, 2020. (Reuters File)
15 hours ago

Trump, EU’s Von Der Leyen to Meet on Sunday to Clinch Trade Deal

Palestinians carry aid supplies that entered Gaza through Israel, in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, July 27, 2025. (Reuters/Dawoud Abu Alkas)
15 hours ago

Israel Announces Daily Pauses in Gaza Fighting as Aid Airdrops Begin

The entire board of Highlands Community Charter in Sacramento stepped down after a state audit found the school improperly received over $180 million and engaged in questionable spending. (Shutter
2 days ago

California School Board Resigns After Audit Reveals $180M in Improper Funding

The NASA logo is seen at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., April 16, 2021. (Reuters File)
2 days ago

NASA Says 20% of Workforce to Depart Space Agency

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and French President Emmanuel Macron visit a ward for Palestinian patients at El Arish Hospital, close to the border with the Gaza Strip, in Arish, Egypt April 8, 2025. Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS
2 days ago

Frustration, Gaza Alarm Drove Macron to Go It Alone on Palestine Recognition

U.S. President Donald Trump golfs at Trump Turnberry resort in Turnberry, Scotland, Britain, July 26, 2025. (Reuters/Phil Noble)
2 days ago

Trump Golfs in Scotland as Epstein Questions Persist

Noah Robinson, 38, was arrested after allegedly robbing a Visalia Long John Silver’s at knifepoint and attempting to flee through nearby backyards with $110 in stolen cash on Friday, July 25, 2025. (Visalia PD)
2 days ago

Visalia Police Arrest Armed Robbery Suspect at Long John Silver’s

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend