North Dakota wrote exception into state law for binary trigger used by Fargo shooter

FARGO — North Dakota lawmakers made sure

binary triggers

were legal in the state four years before a gunman who likely planned a mass shooting in Fargo used the device to kill a police officer.

The state Legislature codified the binary trigger into Century Code with overwhelming support in 2019.

House Bill 1308

added language into law that stated a “machine gun, submachine gun or fully automatic rifle,” which is banned under North Dakota law, “does not include a binary trigger that fires one round upon the pull of the trigger and one round upon release of the trigger.”

The bill was proposed because some companies wanting to sell the trigger in North Dakota worried state law at the time banned the triggers, Rep. Mike Lefor, R-Dickinson, said Feb. 18, 2019, as he carried the bill to the House floor.

“There is one company that refuses to sell them to North Dakota because they think somebody might get good enough at pulling and releasing the binary trigger, causing it to fire five times in a second,” then-Sen. Dwight Cook, R-Mandan, said March 29, 2019, as he carried the bill to the Senate.

Cook’s 2019 words are similar to those spoken by North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley when he announced Friday, July 21, that 37-year-old Mohamad Barakat, of Fargo, retrofitted a long rifle with a binary trigger before opening fire on police on July 14. Officers were responding to a routine crash at 25th Street and Ninth Avenue South in Fargo when Barakat fatally shot Officer Jake Wallin.

A binary trigger allowed Barakat to rapidly shoot at law enforcement, Wrigley said during the Friday news conference. He called the trigger “purposeless.”

“Some of my agents were commenting to me that if you get pretty good at that, and you get the rhythm of that, you’ve made your weapon into a fully operable machine gun,” Wrigley said as he described using the trigger.

The attorney general declined to comment Monday when asked if he would seek legislation to ban the trigger. He said Friday that banning the trigger is a “broader discussion down the road.”

The North Dakota House passed House Bill 1308 in an 80-12 vote, while the state Senate approved it 42-3. No one spoke against the bill on the House and Senate floors.

Lefor and Cook both voted yes.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum signed the bill into law. His spokesman, Mike Nowatzki, noted the bill received bipartisan support.

“While the governor isn’t going to speculate on potential future legislation, he would, as always, seriously consider any recommendations from the law enforcement community,” Nowatzki said in an email to The Forum.

The Legislature passed the law to clarify that binary triggers were legal in North Dakota, Lefor said Monday in an interview with The Forum. The current House majority leader said it would be difficult to make North Dakota “an island” that bans the binary trigger when federal law allows it through the Second Amendment.

“This is something that has to be resolved on the federal level because it is legal federally,” Lefor said.

Sen. Merrill Piepkorn, D-Fargo, who voted against House Bill 1308, told The Forum he didn’t understand why legislators had to insert the language into law. He said he would be in favor of either rewriting the law to remove the term binary triggers or banning the device, though he would speak with concerned citizens and law enforcement to get a sense of what would be the best way to approach revising Century Code.

“I would take a look at it,” he said. “I think the public has a deeper understanding about the effect of this type of weapon.”

Rep. Matthew Ruby, R-Minot, introduced House Bill 1308 because a constituent requested it, according to testimony he gave to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

“The main issue is that certain manufacturers are worried the language may ban these triggers, while others are perfectly fine sending orders here,” he said in a letter to the committee.

When asked what the biggest market for the trigger was, Ruby said, “Mainly trick shooting or target shooting,” according to testimony records. He also said he had one.

“The other reason is you can hit some pretty good fire rates by training,” Ruby told the Senate committee. “The fastest revolver, with no attachments, is 8 rounds per second. You can get really fast if you train. That is usually your target shooters and competition shooters.”

He did not return a message left by The Forum.

Barakat, who also injured two officers and a bystander in the shooting, practiced at a West Fargo gun range. He was

“practicing his shooting skills”

in the hours before the ambush, Wrigley said Friday.

The shooter also researched “mass casualty events” online, Wrigley said. The last website on Barakat’s search history was a story about thousands attending the Downtown Fargo Street Fair, leading authorities to believe he planned to shoot attendees.

North Dakota Century Code defines a machine gun as being able to fire five or more rounds in a second with one trigger pull, Lefor said on the House floor.

“For a binary trigger to fire five rounds per second, it would require three trigger pulls,” he said, adding it only meets one of the two criteria for the definition of a machine gun.

Wrigley on Friday disputed claims that the binary trigger didn’t turn guns into a fully automatic weapon.

“It’s the functional equivalent of it, and we’ve outlawed that for decades,” he said.

Binary triggers are legal in most states, though at least 10 states have banned the device.

Addressing the issue is a challenge, Lefor told The Forum. He said his “heart absolutely breaks” for Wallin, the officer’s family and the Fargo community. He said he believes the change on binary triggers has to come from the federal level.

“At the end of the day, you can’t have a hodgepodge of state laws across the country,” Lefor said.

Piepkorn said during a Senate committee hearing that the bill was introduced for one person. He was the only committee member of six on the Senate side to vote against a “do pass” recommendation.

“I don’t think it warrants a place in our Century Code,” Piepkorn said, according to hearing minutes.

Lawmakers can take steps to prevent a mass shooting, or at least lessen the threat, without infringing upon people’s right to bear arms, Piepkorn told The Forum.

“It’s certainly not a hunter’s issue. It’s something else,” he said. “I think that there’s broad public support for us … taking a look at the law and seeing what we can do to lessen threats like this.”

HOUSE: 80-12

YEAS: Bert Anderson, R-Crosby; Dick Anderson, R-Willow City; Thomas Beadle, R-Fargo; Rick Becker, R-Bismarck; Larry Bellew, R-Minot; Jake Blum, R-Grand Forks; Glenn Bosch, R-Bismarck; Mike Brandenburg, R-Edgeley; Chuck Damschen, R-Hampden; Jeff Delzer, R-Underwood; Bill Devlin, R-Finley; Jason Dockter, R-Bismarck; Sebastian Ertelt, R-Gwinner; Clayton Fegley, R-Berthold; Jay Fisher, R-Minot; Jim Grueneich, R-Ellendale; LaurieBeth Hager, D-Fargo; Patrick Hatlestad, R-Williston; Craig Headland, R-Montpelier; Pat Heinert, R-Bismarck; Jeff Hoverson, R-Minot; Michael Howe, R-West Fargo; Craig Johnson, R-Maxbass; Dennis Johnson, R-Devils Lake; Mary Johnson, R-Fargo; Daniel Johnston, R- Kathryn; Terry Jones, R-New Town; Tom Kading, R-Fargo; Karen Karls, R-Bismarck; Jim Kasper, R-Fargo; George Keiser, R-Bismarck; Keith Kempenich, R-Bowman; Lawrence Klemin, R-Bismarck, Ben Koppelman, R-West Fargo; Kim Koppelman, R-West Fargo; Gary Kreidt, R-New Salem; Vernon Laning, R-Bismarck; Mike Lefor, R-Dickinson; Donald Longmuir, R-Stanley; Scott Louser, R-Minot; Jeffery Magrum, R-Hazelton; Andrew Marschall, R-West Fargo; Bob Martinson, R-Bismarck; Aaron McWilliams, R-Hillsboro; Lisa Meier, R-Bismarck; Corey Mock, D-Grand Forks; David Monson, R-Osnabrock; Mike Nathe, R-Bismarck; Jon Nelson, R-Rugby; Emily O’Brien, R-Grand Forks; Mark Owens, R-Grand Forks; Bob Paulson, R-Minot; Gary Paur, R-Gilby; Chet Pollert, R-Carrington; Todd Porter, R-Mandan; Brandy Pyle, R-Casselton; David Richter, R-Williston; Shannon Roers Jones, R-Fargo; Karen Rohr, R-Mandan; Dan Ruby, R-Minot; Matthew Ruby, R-Minot; Bernie Satrom, R-Jamestown; Mike Schatz, R-New England; Austen Schauer, R-West Fargo; Jim Schmidt, R-Huff; Mary Schneider, D-Fargo; Randy Schobinger, R-Minot; Cynthia Schreiber-Beck, R-Wahpeton; Luke Simons, R-Dickinson; Kathy Skroch, R-Lidgerwood; Vicky Steiner, R-Dickinson; Michelle Strinden, R-Fargo; Nathan Toman, R-Mandan; Wayne Trottier, R-Bismarck; Bill Tveit, R-Hazen; Steve Vetter, R-Grand Forks; Don Vigesaa, R-Cooperstown; Robin Weisz, R-Hurdsfield; Greg Westlind, R-Cando; Denton Zubke, R-Watford City.

NAYS: Mary Adams, D-Grand Forks; Pamela Anderson, D-Fargo; Tracy Boe, D-Mylo; Josh Boschee, D-Fargo; Ruth Buffalo, D-Fargo; Gretchen Dobervich, D-Fargo; Matt Eidson, D-Grand Forks; Ron Guggisberg, D-Fargo; Karla Rose Hanson, D-Fargo; Richard Holman, D-Mayville; Alisa Mitskog, D-Wahpeton; Marvin Nelson, D-Rolla.

ABSENT AND NOT VOTING: Dwight Kiefert, R-Valley City; Mark Sanford, R-Grand Forks.

SENATE: 42-3

YEAS: Howard Anderson Jr., R-Turtle Lake; JoNell Bakke, D-Grand Forks; Brad Bekkedahl, R-Williston; Randy Burckhard, R-Minot; David Clemens, R-West Fargo; Dwight Cook, R-Mandan; Kyle Davison, R-Fargo; Dick Dever, R-Bismarck; Jim Dotzenrod, D-Wyndmere; Jay Elkin, R-Taylor; Richard Erbele, R-Lehr; Robert Fors, R-Larimore; John Grabinger, D-Jamestown; Joan Heckaman, D-New Rockford; Kathy Hogan, D-Jamestown; David Hogue, R-Minot; Ray Holmberg, R-Grand Forks; Jordan Kannianen, R-Stanley; Jerry Klein, R-Fessenden; Karen Krebsbach, R-Minot; Curt Kreun, R-Grand Forks; Oley Larsen, R-Minot; Diane Larson, R-Bismarck; Gary Lee, R-Casselton; Randy Lemm, R-Hillsboro; Larry Luick, R-Fairmount; Scott Meyer, R-Grand Forks; Janne Myrdal, R-Edinburg; Erin Oban, D-Bismarck; Dave Oehlke, R-Devils Lake; Dale Patten, R-Watford City; Nicole Poolman, R-Bismarck; Larry Robinson, R-Valley City; Jim Roers, R-Fargo; Kristin Roers, R-Fargo; David Rust, R-Tioga; Donald Schaible, R-Mott; Ronald Sorvaag, R-Fargo; Jessica Unruh, R-Beulah; Shawn Vedaa, R-Velva; Terry Wanzek, R-Jamestown; Rich Wardner, R-Dickinson.

NAYS: Richard Marcellais, D-Belcourt; Tim Mathern, D-Fargo; Merrill Piepkorn, D-Fargo.

ABSENT AND NOT VOTING: Michael Dwyer, R-Bismarck; Judy Lee, R-West Fargo.