State Legality Matrix / Forced Reset Triggers / Rhode Island

Are Forced Reset Triggers Legal in Rhode Island?

Statute-cited, last verified 2026-07-28

Banned

No. Treated as prohibited under Rhode Island's rapid-fire device bans; statutory coverage of one-pull FRTs is contested.

Controlling law: R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 11-47-8(d) & 11-47-8.1

Litigation Status and Details

The 2018 device ban names bump-fire devices, binary triggers, and trigger cranks and turns on enabling full-automatic fire; forced reset triggers are not named, and § 11-47-8.1(d) expressly preserves ordinary replacement triggers. Coverage of one-pull FRTs is contested and untested in court. Makers uniformly refuse to ship FRTs to Rhode Island; this cell stays conservative at banned.

Federal baseline

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are forced reset triggers legal in Rhode Island?

No. Treated as prohibited under Rhode Island's rapid-fire device bans; statutory coverage of one-pull FRTs is contested. Controlling law: R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 11-47-8(d) & 11-47-8.1.

What law covers forced reset triggers in Rhode Island?

The controlling law is R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 11-47-8(d) & 11-47-8.1. Treated as prohibited under Rhode Island's rapid-fire device bans; statutory coverage of one-pull FRTs is contested.

Are forced reset triggers legal under 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.

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