Are Forced Reset Triggers Legal in Virginia?

Virginia's Uniform Machine Gun Act defines a machine gun by automatic fire of more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.

Code section 18.2-308.5:1 separately defines an auto sear and a trigger activator. Its trigger-activator definition covers a device designed to allow a semiautomatic firearm to shoot more than one shot with a single pull of the trigger by harnessing recoil so that the trigger resets and continues firing without additional physical manipulation. The section does not name forced-reset triggers.

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.