Binary triggers are legal under federal law, but they are banned or restricted in roughly a dozen states, so whether you can legally own one comes down almost entirely to where you live. The federal government does not treat a standard binary trigger as a machinegun, and the ATF has not classified these devices as NFA items. Several states, however, prohibit them under broader “rate of fire” or “multiburst” statutes, and possession in those states can be a felony.
States That Ban Binary Triggers
As of early 2026, states with laws that ban or restrict binary triggers include California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, and Rhode Island. Other states have introduced or are advancing similar legislation. The statutes are worded differently from state to state, which is why a device sold openly in one state can be a felony to possess across the border.
California prohibits “multiburst trigger activators,” defined as any device that enables a semi-automatic firearm to fire two or more shots in a burst or significantly increases its rate of fire. Delaware bans “rapid fire devices,” a category covering any accessory that increases the rate of fire beyond what a person can achieve unassisted. Connecticut expanded its definition of prohibited “rate of fire enhancements” in 2026 to explicitly include binary trigger systems and forced reset triggers. Minnesota’s ban took effect on January 1, 2025, making possession a felony.1Minnesota House of Representatives. New Laws Effective Jan 1 2025
Two states to watch closely. New Jersey has pending legislation (S2097) that would explicitly add binary triggers to the state’s machinegun definition and create a separate criminal offense for possession. That bill had not been enacted as of mid-2026, but New Jersey’s existing machinegun laws are already among the strictest in the country. Illinois has also considered legislation classifying firearms equipped with a “binary switch” as machineguns. If you live in either state, check current status before you buy.
Some newer bans took effect without a grace period, meaning owners who bought their triggers legally became criminally liable on the effective date. Verify current restrictions in any state where you plan to possess or transport the device.
Why Binary Triggers Are Legal Federally
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.”2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5845 – Definitions The operative phrase is “single function of the trigger.” A standard binary trigger fires one round on the pull and one round on the release. Federal regulators and courts have treated the pull and release as two separate trigger functions, which keeps the device outside the machinegun definition.
The Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in Garland v. Cargill, which struck down the ATF’s regulatory ban on bump stocks, defined “function of the trigger” as “the physical trigger movement required to shoot the firearm” and held that any subsequent shot fired after the trigger resets results from a separate and distinct function.3Supreme Court. Garland v Cargill, 22-976 Cargill addressed bump stocks directly, but its reasoning reinforces the position that binary triggers are not machineguns under federal law.
The ATF has not classified standard binary triggers as machineguns. If a device were classified that way, possessing it without NFA registration would violate federal law.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5861 – Prohibited Acts
Penalties for Unlawful Possession
Consequences depend on whether you’re charged under state or federal law, and for binary triggers the state penalties are usually the ones that matter.
State Penalties
State penalties for possessing a banned binary trigger vary widely and can be harsher than federal consequences would be. Minnesota treats possession as a felony carrying up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $35,000. New Jersey classifies machinegun possession as a second-degree crime punishable by five to 10 years of imprisonment and a fine of up to $150,000. In states that treat binary trigger possession as a standalone offense separate from machinegun charges, penalties may stack with other weapons charges.
Most state bans also require forfeiture of the trigger device and the firearm it’s attached to.
Federal Penalties
Federal penalties come into play only if a specific device is classified as a machinegun based on its mechanics. Civilian possession of any machinegun manufactured after May 19, 1986 is flatly prohibited.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts A conviction under the NFA’s penalty provision carries up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000, and the firearm and accessories are subject to forfeiture.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5871 – Penalties Standard binary triggers have not been classified as machineguns, so these federal penalties do not apply to typical ownership.
Traveling With a Binary Trigger
Owning a binary trigger where it’s legal creates a real trap if you travel with it into a state where it’s banned. Binary triggers aren’t tracked in any federal registry, so there’s no paperwork to file before crossing state lines, but there’s also no federal safe-harbor process protecting you in transit.
The Firearm Owners’ Protection Act provides limited protection for transporting lawful firearms through restrictive states, but only if the firearm is unloaded, not readily accessible, and you’re traveling between two places where possession is legal. Whether that protection extends to binary trigger accessories specifically has not been well tested in court. If you’re driving through a state that bans binary triggers, the safest approach is to remove the device from the firearm before entering that state.
Binary Triggers Are Not Forced Reset Triggers
Most of the recent federal legal drama around rapid-fire triggers has involved forced reset triggers, not binary triggers, and confusing the two leads to wrong conclusions about what’s legal. A binary trigger fires one round on the pull and a second round on the release; you control both actions. A forced reset trigger fires only on the pull but uses a mechanical cam or spring to push the trigger forward into reset, letting you fire again almost immediately.
The ATF classified forced reset triggers, specifically the Rare Breed FRT-15 and Wide Open Triggers, as machineguns and pursued enforcement. In July 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled in National Association for Gun Rights v. Garland that FRT-15s and Wide Open Triggers are not machineguns under the NFA. A subsequent settlement required ATF to return seized devices and barred the government from enforcing machinegun statutes against anyone possessing an eligible FRT.7Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Rare Breed Triggers FRT-15s and Wide-Open Triggers WOTs Return That settlement does not cover machinegun conversion devices like auto sears, lightning links, or switches.
Standard binary triggers have always faced less federal legal risk than FRTs, because their two-shot mechanism more clearly involves two separate trigger functions. State laws don’t always draw the same distinction, though, and several bans sweep in both devices under broad rate-of-fire language.
A Moving Target
Binary trigger legality shifts more than most firearms questions. Cargill reshaped how courts analyze trigger devices, and its effects are still working through the lower courts. States, meanwhile, are moving in the opposite direction, with new bans introduced in most recent legislative sessions. A device legal to buy today can become illegal to possess next year if your state passes new restrictions, sometimes without a grace period. Check your state legislature’s website before purchasing, and check it again before you travel.