Are Binary Triggers Legal in Virginia?

Virginia Code section 18.2-308.5:1 defines a trigger activator as a device designed to allow a semi-automatic firearm to shoot more than one shot with a single pull of the trigger by harnessing recoil energy so the trigger resets and continues firing without additional manipulation, and makes manufacturing, importing, selling, possessing, transferring, or transporting a trigger activator or auto sear a Class 6 felony. A binary system's release-fired second shot presents a different mechanism from that single-pull recoil formulation.

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.