State Legality MatrixForced Reset TriggersNew Jersey
Statute-cited, not legal advice, last verified 2026-10-20
Banned
No. Treated as a prohibited machine gun under New Jersey's broad state definition.
Controlling law: N.J. Stat. § 2C:39-1(i), (pp) (definitions); §§ 2C:39-3(l), 2C:39-5(a), 2C:39-9(j) (P.L.2025, c.363)
Contested entry
New Jersey defines a machine gun as any firearm, mechanism, or instrument not requiring that the trigger be pressed for each shot, and the Attorney General has described FRTs as machine-gun conversion devices. P.L.2025, c.363 (approved January 20, 2026, effective immediately) added conversion parts to the machine-gun definition and created separate third-degree offenses for manufacturing, transporting, selling, or disposing of a machine gun conversion device (any device capable of converting a firearm into a machine gun) or possessing one without a firearm to which it may be affixed. Trigger cranks and bump stocks are separately enumerated.
The statute in practice
New Jersey defines a machine gun as any firearm, mechanism, or instrument not requiring that the trigger be pressed for each shot. An FRT permits repeated shots while the shooter maintains rearward pressure, with the mechanism forcing a reset between rounds, and the Attorney General has described FRTs as machine-gun conversion devices.
P.L.2025, c.363, approved January 20, 2026 and effective immediately, added frames, receivers, and conversion parts to the machine-gun definition, defined a machine gun conversion device as any device capable of converting a firearm into a machine gun, and made it a third-degree crime to manufacture, transport, ship, sell, or dispose of one, or to possess one without a firearm to which it may be affixed. Possessing a machine gun without a license remains a second-degree crime under N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5(a).
Timeline
What it means for you
Rare Breed Triggers lists New Jersey among the jurisdictions it will not ship to. S 1268 (2026-2027), a reintroduced machine gun conversion device bill, is recorded as withdrawn because its predecessor bill was approved as P.L.2025, c.363.
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. Treated as a prohibited machine gun under New Jersey's broad state definition. Controlling law: N.J. Stat. § 2C:39-1(i), (pp) (definitions); §§ 2C:39-3(l), 2C:39-5(a), 2C:39-9(j) (P.L.2025, c.363).
The controlling law is N.J. Stat. § 2C:39-1(i), (pp) (definitions); §§ 2C:39-3(l), 2C:39-5(a), 2C:39-9(j) (P.L.2025, c.363). Treated as a prohibited machine gun under New Jersey's broad state definition.
No. Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs addressed New Jersey's assault-firearm and large-capacity-magazine provisions. It did not address the machine-gun definition in N.J.S.A. 2C:39-1 or the possession offense in N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5.
P.L.2025, c.363 defined a machine gun conversion device as any device capable of converting a firearm into a machine gun and made it a third-degree crime to manufacture, transport, ship, sell, or dispose of one, or to possess one without a firearm to which it may be affixed. It does not name forced reset triggers.