State Legality MatrixBinary TriggersHawaii
Statute-cited, not legal advice, last verified 2026-10-20
Banned
No. Expressly prohibits a device that fires multiple shots with the pull and release of the trigger.
Controlling law: Haw. Rev. Stat. § 134-8.5
Contested entry
Section 134-8.5 (L 2018, c 157) defines a multiburst trigger activator to include a device that fires multiple shots with the pull and release of the trigger, which describes a binary trigger directly. Manufacturing, importing, selling, lending, or possessing one is a class C felony.
The statute in practice
Hawaii section 134-8.5 defines a multiburst trigger activator to include a device that fires multiple shots with the pull and release of the trigger, and makes manufacturing, importing, keeping for sale, giving, lending, or possessing one a class C felony. That language describes the two-stage firing sequence directly instead of relying on the federal machine-gun definition.
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.
Federal baseline verified 2026-10-20. 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. Expressly prohibits a device that fires multiple shots with the pull and release of the trigger. Controlling law: Haw. Rev. Stat. § 134-8.5.
The controlling law is Haw. Rev. Stat. § 134-8.5. Expressly prohibits a device that fires multiple shots with the pull and release of the trigger.