Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Division of Consumer Affairs (“Division”) today announced a civil lawsuit against a Texas company that advertised and sold bump stocks—prohibited devices that cause semi-automatic rifles to fire almost as quickly as machine guns—to consumers in New Jersey.
New Jersey law prohibits the possession of bump stocks, which can be attached to a semi-automatic rifle in order to increase its rate of fire by harnessing recoil energy to facilitate the continuous operation of the gun after a single pull of the trigger. Violent incidents that involve the use of bump stocks often result in more shots fired, more persons wounded, and more wounds per victim than gun attacks that do not involve these devices.
Defendant RW Arms, Ltd. (“RW Arms”), based in Fort Worth, Texas, sells firearm parts and accessories online via the company’s website. The State alleges that RW Arms unlawfully advertised, offered for sale, and sold bump stocks to consumers in New Jersey through its website.
“Bump stocks are dangerous devices that dramatically increase the rate of fire of semi-automatic firearms and New Jersey has zero tolerance for them in our state,” said Attorney General Platkin. “To protect our residents and keep our communities safe from the epidemic of gun violence, we will continue to investigate and take action against companies that market and ship these lethal devices into New Jersey in violation of our laws.”
In the civil complaint filed in New Jersey Superior Court in Essex County yesterday, the State alleges that RW Arms violated New Jersey’s Hazardous Products Regulations and engaged in unconscionable commercial practices and deceptive conduct in violation of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act (“CFA”) by advertising and selling bump stocks, without warning New Jersey purchasers that possession of a bump stock is a third-degree crime in this state, punishable by a fine of up to $15,000, and by a term of imprisonment between three years and five years.
The complaint also alleges that RW Arms violated the CFA by deceptively implying that bump stocks are legal to possess in New Jersey and not subject to further regulation in New Jersey by:
- advertising bump stocks on the company’s website with a promotion appearing in an orange banner that states “Supreme Court lifts Bump Stock ban!”;
- selling the Bump Fire System Stock to New Jersey consumers and including a letter from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”) evaluating a bump stock to “determine if its design would violate any Federal statutes,” and stating that the device submitted for evaluation was “not a machine gun “as defined by federal law; and
- selling the Bump Fire System Stock to New Jersey consumers and including operating instructions that read, in part, “ATF APPROVED, Bump Fire stock is not a machine gun as defined under the federal Gun Control Act.”
“RW Arms’ alleged unlawful advertisement and sale of illegal bump stocks into New Jersey demonstrates a blatant disregard for the laws intended to keep our communities safe and protect our consumers from deceptive business practices,” said Elizabeth M. Harris, Acting Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs. “By taking action against this business, we are not only fulfilling our duty to provide transparency in our marketplace; we are also preventing dangerous, illegal devices from coming into our state.”
According to the allegations in the complaint, an investigator from the Division, acting in an undercover capacity, purchased a “Bump Fire System Stock” from the RW Arms website on two occasions, once on August 28, 2024 and once on September 5, 2024.
At no point during the either of the online checkout processes, including after entering a New Jersey shipping address, was the Division investigator prevented from placing the order, warned that the items selected for purchase are illegal to possess in New Jersey, or notified that these products may be restricted in certain jurisdictions.
In connection with one of the undercover purchases, the Division investigator checked a box to subscribe to the RW Arms Newsletter. The investigator subsequently received numerous promotional emails advertising bump stocks for sale through the RW Arms website. None of the promotional emails contained notices advising that the devices were illegal in New Jersey or that violators faced criminal penalties.
The State’s lawsuit seeks to impose the maximum statutory civil penalties, and to require RW Arms to disgorge any monies acquired through its unconscionable commercial practices. The suit also seeks a court order directing the company to block the shipping of bump stocks to any New Jersey address and ordering RW Arms to include on the homepage, bump stock product pages, and the checkout pages of its website a clear and conspicuous statement informing consumers that, in New Jersey, possession of a bump stock is a third-degree crime, punishable by imprisonment between three years to five years and a fine not to exceed $15,000.
In 2017, a shooter using rifles equipped with large capacity ammunition magazines and bump stocks fired more than 1,000 rounds in less than ten minutes into a crowd in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fifty-eight people were killed and more than 800 were wounded. That same year, the New Jersey Legislature passed legislation prohibiting bump stocks.
In June 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States struck down a federal rule by the ATF designating bump stocks as prohibited machine guns, but the Court’s decision left undisturbed state laws banning bump stocks, such as New Jersey’s prohibition.
The lawsuit against RW Arms is the latest effort by the Office of the Attorney General and the Division of Consumer Affairs to protect New Jersey residents from illegal firearm products and gun violence caused by those products.
Most recently, in November 2024, Dick’s Sporting Goods, formerly doing business as Field and Stream, agreed to pay $46,000 in civil penalties and attorneys’ fees and abide by injunctive terms resolving allegations that it unlawfully sold large-capacity magazines (“LCMs”) in violation of a New Jersey law prohibiting the possession of firearm magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. LCMs allow a shooter to fire a high number of bullets in a short amount of time without having to pause and reload. As part of the settlement, Dick’s Sporting Goods represented that it has discontinued the sale and shipment of firearms, ammunition, and related products, including LCMs.
In January 2024, Indiana-based firearms dealer Element Armament, LLC agreed to stop advertising, offering for sale, and selling LCMs to New Jersey residents to resolve allegations stemming from an undercover investigation conducted by the Division. The company also agreed to prevent the ordering and shipping of its LCMs to any New Jersey addresses. A third lawsuit, filed in June 2024 against a Nevada firearms company that sold more than two dozen LCMs into New Jersey, is pending in Superior Court in Essex County.
