State Legality Matrix / Binary Triggers / California
Statute-cited, last verified 2026-07-10
No. Prohibited as a multiburst trigger activator; possession and sale are barred. Effective 2019-01-01.
Controlling law: Cal. Penal Code §§ 16930 & 32900
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.
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.
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.