State Legality MatrixBinary TriggersCalifornia
Statute-cited, last verified 2026-07-31
Banned
No. Prohibited as a multiburst trigger activator; possession and sale are barred. Effective 2019-01-01.
Controlling law: Cal. Penal Code §§ 16930 & 32900
Contested entry
The 2018 amendment (Stats. 2018, ch. 795) expanded § 16930 to reach aftermarket trigger systems that allow more than one round to be fired per activation cycle; the California DOJ and retailers treat binary triggers as prohibited.
The statute in practice
Penal Code section 16930 defines a multiburst trigger activator to include an aftermarket trigger system that permits more than one shot during the firearm's activation cycle, while section 32900 covers manufacture, import, sale, transfer, and possession. The activation-cycle wording, added in 2018, is broader than the federal single-function machine-gun test.
Timeline
Federal law
Binary triggers are legal under federal law and are not machine guns under 26 U.S.C. § 5845(b); ATF treats the trigger pull and the trigger release as two separate functions of the trigger, so one round is fired per function. Cargill v. Garland (2024) concerned bump stocks, not binary triggers, and does not change this.
Scope: Binary triggers (Franklin Armory BFSIII and similar): fire one round on trigger pull and one on release. Forced reset triggers are a separate class.
Common questions
No. Prohibited as a multiburst trigger activator; possession and sale are barred. Effective 2019-01-01. Controlling law: Cal. Penal Code §§ 16930 & 32900.
The controlling law is Cal. Penal Code §§ 16930 & 32900. Prohibited as a multiburst trigger activator; possession and sale are barred.
California's rule took effect 2019-01-01. The 2018 amendment (Stats. 2018, ch. 795) expanded § 16930 to reach aftermarket trigger systems that allow more than one round to be fired per activation cycle; the California DOJ and retailers treat binary triggers as prohibited.
Binary triggers are legal under federal law and are not machine guns under 26 U.S.C. § 5845(b); ATF treats the trigger pull and the trigger release as two separate functions of the trigger, so one round is fired per function. Cargill v. Garland (2024) concerned bump stocks, not binary triggers, and does not change this.