Are Forced Reset Triggers Legal in Maine?

Maine's machine-gun definition in title 17-A, section 1051 covers a weapon capable of discharging a number of projectiles in rapid succession by one manual or mechanical action on the trigger or firing mechanism. Section 1052 limits possession to specified law-enforcement and military users and exempts machine guns held in accordance with the National Firearms Act.

Maine does not separately define a forced-reset trigger or a generic rate-increasing trigger device.

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.