In 2016, Mesa, Arizona police responded to a La Quinta Inn motel because of reports of a man waving a gun out a room window.
Police officers called out to the occupants of the motel room and told them to come out.
Initially, no one exited the room.
Next, officers called the room telephone and told the people inside to exit the room.
Daniel S. walked out of the room and was told to lie on the ground by the police.
Police officers gave Daniel several commands and told him to keep his hands up at all times.
Officers instructed Daniel to move towards them.
But as Daniel advanced on the officers, he moved his right hand towards his waistband.
One of the officers, who was armed with an AR-15, believed Daniel was reaching for a weapon.
The officer shot Daniel five times, killing him instantly.
Upon investigation, it was learned that Daniel was intoxicated but unarmed.
Two pellet gun rifles were found inside the motel room.
The police officer who shot Daniel was charged with second-degree murder.
But after a six-week trial, a jury thankfully acquitted the officer of the charges.
During the trial, prosecutors in the case attempted to bring up modifications the officer had made to the gun.
Specifically, the prosecutor attacked an inscription that the officer had etched into the dust cover of his AR-15 rifle.
The words “You’re f—-” were inscribed on the gun.
State prosecutors said the words were evidence of the officer’s mindset at the time of the shooting.
Rightfully, the judge in the case ruled the evidence “totally prejudicial” and didn’t allow it to be brought up during the trial.
The issue of two words written on the rifle had no bearing on anyone’s actions that day.
However, this shows that liberal prosecutors will say, do, or use anything they can to attack firearms and firearm use – especially by the good guys.
But this story also clearly shows that if you make modifications to your firearms you need to be prepared for prosecutors to attack those modifications.
(Even if it’s something as stupid as two words inscribed on an after-market part)
Now, a popular gun modification a lot of shooters add is a customized trigger.
One way to do this is to install a binary trigger.
What is a binary trigger?:
Binary triggers are designed to allow shooters to fire their guns more quickly.
Meaning, a binary trigger can increase the fire rate of semi-automatic firearms.
The way it works is that a binary trigger has two sears.
The second sear engages the hammer and releases when the shooter lets the trigger move forward.
Simply put, a binary trigger fires one shot when it’s pulled back, then another shot when the trigger moves forward.
Most binary triggers have semi-auto and binary modes and there is a selector switch to determine which mode you want it to be in.
Benefits of a binary trigger:
First, binary triggers can be fun to shoot. You can get a lot of rounds downrange in a short amount of time.
If you train with a binary trigger and become skilled using it, you could shave time off your follow-up shots.
My point is that if speed is your priority, you can improve it with a binary trigger.
In a home defense situation, you could shave hundredths of a second of the time between shots.
Drawbacks to a binary trigger:
A binary trigger is a customization that will take time and practice to make it worthwhile.
If you don’t want to spend a lot of ammunition and time practicing with the trigger it’s not worth it.
Also, as you improve the rate of fire it’s important to remember that accuracy is just as important.
Putting a lot of rounds down range without hitting the target is worthless.
And as you’re firing rounds at a faster rate, there’s more recoil, and it could be harder to stay accurate.
Plus, binary triggers can change the rhythm of firing your gun.
So, it could be an adjustment for you, and take time to get used to.
Should you get a binary trigger?:
Under federal law binary triggers are legal.
But some states have laws banning them, so check your local laws before getting one.
A binary trigger is one of those customizations that has a “cool” factor.
But the only reason to really get a binary trigger is to increase rate of fire.
Your money is better spent on other customizations and upgrades first.
Plus, if you use a binary trigger in a self-defense situation, a gun-grabbing prosecutor may try to use it against you.
