State Legality MatrixForced Reset TriggersMinnesota
Statute-cited, not legal advice, last verified 2026-10-20
Banned
No. Prohibited as a trigger activator under the 2023 expanded definition. Effective 2023-08-01.
Controlling law: Minn. Stat. § 609.67
Contested entry
The 2023 amendment (2023 c 52 art 4 s 15) rewrote 'trigger activator' to capture recoil-harnessing devices that reset and continue firing without additional physical manipulation, reaching FRTs; penalties run up to 20 years and a $35,000 fine. The separate 2024 binary-trigger clause (2024 c 127 art 36 s 2) was challenged under the state single-subject clause; the FRT-reaching clause comes from the 2023 act and is untested in court as applied to one-pull FRTs.
The statute in practice
Minnesota Statutes section 609.67 defines a trigger activator to include a device that allows a semiautomatic firearm to shoot more than one shot with a single pull of the trigger or by harnessing the recoil energy of the firearm so that the trigger resets and continues firing without additional physical manipulation of the trigger. That functional language is the relevant forced-reset provision.
The recoil-and-reset clause was enacted in 2023 (2023 c 52 art 4 s 15). A separate binary-trigger clause added in 2024 (2024 c 127 art 36 s 2) was challenged under the state constitution's single-subject rule.
Timeline
What it means for you
Owning, possessing, or operating a trigger activator carries up to 20 years of imprisonment, a fine of up to $35,000, or both. Minnesota was a plaintiff in the 2025 multistate suit against the federal FRT settlement.
Federal law
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.
Common questions
No. Prohibited as a trigger activator under the 2023 expanded definition. Effective 2023-08-01. Controlling law: Minn. Stat. § 609.67.
The controlling law is Minn. Stat. § 609.67. Prohibited as a trigger activator under the 2023 expanded definition.
Minnesota's rule took effect 2023-08-01. The 2023 amendment (2023 c 52 art 4 s 15) rewrote 'trigger activator' to capture recoil-harnessing devices that reset and continue firing without additional physical manipulation, reaching FRTs; penalties run up to 20 years and a $35,000 fine. The separate 2024 binary-trigger clause (2024 c 127 art 36 s 2) was challenged under the state single-subject clause; the FRT-reaching clause comes from the 2023 act and is untested in court as applied to one-pull FRTs.