Binary triggers sit in a legal gray zone in Florida, and the safe answer to whether they are legal in the state is no. Federal law does not treat them as machine guns, and Florida’s own machine gun definition would not reach them either. But a separate Florida statute, § 790.222, bans any device that increases a semiautomatic firearm’s rate of fire beyond what a shooter can achieve unassisted, and that language is broad enough that possessing a binary trigger could support a third-degree felony charge. No Florida court has ruled on the question. Until one does, owning a binary trigger in Florida means accepting real prosecution risk.
What Florida Statute 790.222 Actually Prohibits
The 2018 statute is called the bump-fire stock ban, but the definition inside it goes well past bump stocks. Under § 790.222, a “bump-fire stock” is any conversion kit, tool, accessory, or device that either alters a firearm’s rate of fire to mimic automatic fire, or increases the rate of fire beyond what a person can achieve without the device.1Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 790.222 – Bump-Fire Stocks Prohibited
A binary trigger fires one round on the pull and a second on the release, producing two shots per trigger cycle instead of one. A prosecutor can plausibly argue that doubling the rounds per cycle is exactly what the statute prohibits: an accessory increasing the rate of fire beyond unassisted capability. The statute never names binary triggers, and no published Florida opinion has interpreted whether they fall inside the definition. That silence is the problem. The text is broad enough to reach them, and nothing in the case law rules the reading out.
The statute also prohibits importing, selling, distributing, and transferring the covered devices, so dealers and shippers face the same exposure as individual owners.
Why Florida’s Machine Gun Statute Is Not the Concern
Florida separately defines a “machine gun” as any firearm designed to fire more than one shot automatically, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.2Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 790.001 – Definitions That language tracks the federal definition in 26 U.S.C. § 5845.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5845 – Definitions
A binary trigger requires two separate trigger actions to fire two rounds: one pull, one release. Neither action alone produces more than one shot. Under either the state or the federal machine gun definition, that is not automatic fire by a single function of the trigger. The ATF has issued product-specific classification letters to binary trigger manufacturers confirming this, and its position has been consistent.
So the machine gun statutes are not what should worry a Florida owner. It’s § 790.222 and its rate-of-fire language.
Why the Supreme Court’s Cargill Decision Does Not Fix This
In June 2024, the Supreme Court decided Garland v. Cargill, holding that a semiautomatic rifle equipped with a bump stock does not fire more than one shot by a single function of the trigger and therefore is not a machine gun under federal law. The decision invalidated the ATF’s federal bump stock rule.4Supreme Court of the United States. Garland v. Cargill, No. 22-976
Cargill was about the federal machine gun definition and the ATF’s authority to interpret it. Florida’s § 790.222 is a separate state statute with its own broader definition that does not depend on federal machine gun classification at all. A device can be outside the federal machine gun definition and still fall inside Florida’s rate-of-fire prohibition. Cargill did not touch Florida law, and Florida’s ban remains fully in effect.
Penalties for Possession
A violation of § 790.222 is a third-degree felony.1Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 790.222 – Bump-Fire Stocks Prohibited In Florida, that carries up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000. The same exposure applies whether you possess, sell, import, distribute, or transfer the device.
If a prosecutor instead pursued a machine gun charge under § 790.001, unlawful possession is a second-degree felony punishable by up to fifteen years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. That charge would be a harder argument to sustain given how binary triggers work, but the threat exists on paper. Federal prosecution for possessing an unregistered machine gun under the National Firearms Act can reach ten years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine, though federal charges are unlikely given the ATF’s own classification history.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5845 – Definitions
Traveling Through Florida With a Binary Trigger
Federal law offers a safe-passage provision for interstate transport of firearms. Under 18 U.S.C. § 926A, you can move a firearm through a state where you cannot legally carry it if the firearm is unloaded, locked away from the passenger compartment, and lawful to possess at both your origin and destination.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 926A – Interstate Transportation of Firearms
The provision covers firearms and ammunition. Whether it extends to a standalone accessory like a binary trigger not attached to a firearm has not been settled. Driving through Florida with a binary trigger installed on a rifle puts the firearm inside the safe-passage rule, but you are still carrying an accessory that Florida may treat as contraband. Shipping one into the state, or carrying one separately, has even less federal cover. Removing the binary trigger before entering Florida is the low-risk choice.
What the Practical Risk Looks Like
The legal question is unresolved, but the practical situation is not ambiguous. Several Florida firearms dealers have stopped stocking binary triggers because of § 790.222’s reach. A defense against a § 790.222 charge would be an argument of first impression: you would be asking a Florida court to hold, for the first time, that a device doubling the rounds per trigger cycle does not increase the rate of fire beyond unassisted capability. That is a live argument on the text, not a losing one, but it is one you would be making from the defense table with a felony on the record.
Federal law protects binary triggers. Florida’s machine gun definition does not reach them. Florida’s rate-of-fire statute might, and no court has said otherwise. Anyone weighing whether to own, buy, or bring one into Florida should treat the answer as no until the legislature narrows § 790.222 or a court reads binary triggers out of it.