Forced reset triggers are legal under federal law after a May 2025 Department of Justice settlement and a 2024 federal court ruling that vacated the ATF’s classification of them as machineguns. State law is where the risk sits: roughly 16 states and Washington, D.C., restrict or ban FRTs, with penalties running from a misdemeanor in some jurisdictions to 20 years in prison in others. Whether you can lawfully own one depends entirely on the state you live in.
Federal Law After Cargill and the 2025 Settlement
The federal machinegun ban turns on a single statutory phrase. The National Firearms Act defines a machinegun as any weapon that shoots “automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.”1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5845 – Definitions The Gun Control Act makes it a federal crime for a civilian to possess a machinegun manufactured after May 19, 1986.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
In March 2022, the ATF sent an open letter to federal firearms licensees taking the position that certain forced reset triggers met that definition. Anyone possessing an FRT was, on paper, exposed to the same penalties as someone caught with an unregistered machinegun: up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5871 – Penalties
That classification did not hold up. On June 14, 2024, the Supreme Court decided Garland v. Cargill, ruling that bump stocks are not machineguns because the trigger still resets between each shot and the shooter still re-engages it every round. Speed of fire, the Court said, is not the same as automatic fire under the statute.4Supreme Court of the United States. Garland v. Cargill, No. 22-976 The logic applied even more clearly to FRTs, which require a deliberate trigger pull for every shot. On July 23, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas vacated the ATF’s FRT-as-machinegun classification in National Association for Gun Rights v. Garland, and declared the vacatur “inherently universal,” stripping the classification of binding force beyond the parties to the case.5FindLaw. National Association for Gun Rights Inc v. Merrick Garland (2024)
On May 16, 2025, the DOJ announced a settlement with Rare Breed Triggers that resolved the government’s pending appeals and a separate case in the Eastern District of New York. The government agreed not to enforce the machinegun prohibition or any NFA requirements against people who possess or transfer forced reset triggers. In exchange, Rare Breed agreed not to develop FRTs designed for pistols and committed to enforcing its patents against unsafe copies.6U.S. Department of Justice. Department of Justice Announces Settlement of Litigation Between the Federal Government and Rare Breed Triggers As of now, FRTs are not treated as machineguns under federal law.
States That Ban Forced Reset Triggers
Federal legality tells you nothing about your state. Roughly 16 states and Washington, D.C., have their own prohibitions on rapid-fire trigger devices, and they operate independently of the federal machinegun definition. Rather than fight over what counts as a “single function of the trigger,” these states wrote new categories—”trigger activator,” “rapid-fire activator”—broad enough to capture any device that increases a semi-automatic’s rate of fire, whether or not each shot requires a separate trigger pull. That means a device can be fully legal under the National Firearms Act and still a felony under your state code.
A few examples show how the state statutes are drafted:
- Oregon bans “rapid-fire activators,” defined as any device that increases the rate at which the trigger is activated or the rate of fire beyond what is possible without the device. The statute explicitly lists forced reset triggers, bump stocks, binary triggers, auto sears, and similar devices.7Oregon State Legislature. ORS 166.352 – Unlawful Possession of a Rapid Fire Activator
- Minnesota prohibits “trigger activators,” including devices that increase a firearm’s rate of fire to that of a machinegun, devices that allow more than one shot per trigger pull by harnessing recoil energy, and devices that fire one shot on the pull and another on the release.8Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 609.67 – Machine Guns and Short-Barreled Shotguns
- Virginia bans “trigger activators,” defined as devices that allow a semi-automatic firearm to fire more than one shot per trigger pull by harnessing recoil energy so the trigger resets and continues firing without additional manipulation by the shooter. Possession is a Class 6 felony.
Other states with restrictions include California, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Maryland. Exact definitions and scope differ. Some laws are broad enough to potentially reach binary triggers and trigger cranks alongside FRTs; others are narrower. If you live in a state with an assault weapons framework or a history of strict accessory regulation, read the current statute before buying anything advertised as a rapid-fire device.
The bans typically cover manufacturing, selling, possessing, and transporting the device. Coverage of parts and components varies.
Penalties Where Possession Is Illegal
Consequences vary sharply by state, and some jurisdictions treat an FRT as seriously as an unregistered machinegun.
- Minnesota treats possession of a trigger activator the same as possession of a machinegun: up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $35,000. That is among the harshest penalties in the country for a firearm accessory.8Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 609.67 – Machine Guns and Short-Barreled Shotguns
- Virginia classifies possession as a Class 6 felony, which carries potential prison time and a permanent felony record.
- Oregon treats unlawful possession of a rapid-fire activator as a Class A misdemeanor.7Oregon State Legislature. ORS 166.352 – Unlawful Possession of a Rapid Fire Activator
None of the states with FRT bans have adopted grandfather clauses for devices purchased before the ban. If your state enacts a prohibition, the practical options are surrendering the device, transferring it out of state, or accepting criminal exposure.
The old federal penalty—up to 10 years and a $10,000 fine under the NFA—no longer applies to FRT possession after the 2025 settlement.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5871 – Penalties It would become relevant again only if the settlement is unwound or a future administration reverses course.
What Could Still Change
The federal picture is not fully settled. A coalition of 15 state attorneys general has filed suit challenging the DOJ’s decision to settle with Rare Breed, arguing the federal government improperly abandoned enforcement of the machinegun statute. If that challenge succeeds, owners who bought FRTs in reliance on the settlement could face renewed uncertainty about whether federal prosecutors might revisit the machinegun classification. Nothing about that pending litigation changes state law, which will continue to bind residents of the roughly 16 states and D.C. that have already prohibited these devices.
Before buying, transporting, or transferring a forced reset trigger, check the current statute in every state you’ll possess it in. Federal permission is not the whole answer, and in a ban state it is not the answer that matters.