Are Forced Reset Triggers Legal in Alabama?

Alabama's conversion-device statute, Code section 13A-11-82.1 (2025), defines a machine gun as a weapon that fires automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger, and prohibits parts intended to convert a pistol into a machine gun.

The statute expressly excludes a device that increases a pistol's rate of fire but does not enable the pistol to fire more than two shots by a single trigger function. A rifle FRT producing one round per trigger function does not meet the machine-gun test, and the conversion-device offense is framed around pistols.

Under the 2025 DOJ settlement with Rare Breed Triggers, an FRT fires one round per trigger function and is not an NFA machine gun federally. The settlement covers rifles and grip-forward pistols; it does not extend to grip-fed handguns (Glock, S&W M&P, Canik), whose federal FRT status remains less settled. State bans operate independently of federal law through broader state machine-gun, trigger-activator, or rate-of-fire definitions.

Federal baseline verified 2026-07-28. Scope: Forced reset triggers (Rare Breed FRT-15, Dairyland Defender, and similar) and forced-reset selectors (AR Super Safety, ARC-Fire). One round per trigger function. Binary triggers are a separate class.