State Legality MatrixForced Reset TriggersMinnesota
Statute-cited, last verified 2026-07-28 · State detail verified 2026-07-31
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; felony with penalties up to 20 years. The May 2026 single-subject ruling in Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus v. Walz severed only the 2024 binary-trigger prong; this FRT-reaching prong survives, though it 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 uses recoil energy to produce trigger movement and continue firing without additional physical manipulation. That functional language is the relevant forced-reset provision.
Minnesota's 2024 binary-trigger amendment was litigated separately. The 2026 single-subject decision concerning that amendment did not erase the earlier recoil-and-reset language used for the forced-reset analysis.
Timeline
What it means for you
Do not use the binary-trigger litigation as a shortcut for the forced-reset question. The mechanisms and statutory clauses differ, so section 609.67's current text must be matched to the device at issue.
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.
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; felony with penalties up to 20 years. The May 2026 single-subject ruling in Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus v. Walz severed only the 2024 binary-trigger prong; this FRT-reaching prong survives, though it is untested in court as applied to one-pull FRTs.
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.