State Legality Matrix Binary TriggersIowa

Are Binary Triggers Legal in Iowa?

Statute-cited, last verified 2026-07-31

Status: Legal
Verified: 2026-07-31

Legal

Yes. No Iowa statute reaches binary triggers; the machine-gun definition uses single function of the trigger and there is no rate-of-fire statute.

Contested entry

Litigation Status and Details

Iowa Code § 724.1 defines a machine gun as firing more than one shot by a single function of the trigger; a binary fires one round per function.

The statute in practice

Iowa Law in Detail

Iowa Code section 724.1 defines a machine gun by more than one shot fired automatically through a single function of the trigger. ATF's federal binary-trigger explanation treats the pull and release as separate functions, so Iowa's exact trigger-function wording is the important state-specific text.

Sources

Federal law

Federal baseline

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

Frequently Asked Questions