Are Forced Reset Triggers Legal in Iowa?

Iowa Code chapter 724 defines a machine gun as a firearm which shoots or is designed to shoot more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger. The chapter does not name forced-reset triggers.

Section 724.29 separately makes it an aggravated misdemeanor to sell or offer for sale a manual or power-driven trigger activating device constructed and designed so that, when attached to a firearm, it increases the firearm's rate of fire. That section reaches sales and offers for sale, not possession, and does not name forced reset triggers.

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 2026-10-20. 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.