Are FRT Triggers Legal in Minnesota or Just a Controversial Grey Area?
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Minnesota is a tough place to understand sometimes. We are a part of flyover country and often forgotten on the national stage, well until recently. In 2020 we made national news for the rioting that occurred after George Flyod. On the heels of this, and some major fraud cases, our Governor Tim Walz (DFL) was a failed Vice-Presidential candidate for Kamala Harris’ 2024 campaign. Then comes this summer, the assassination of Melissa Hortman (DFL) and her husband and the Annunciation school shooting by a transgender shooter.
In between all of those headlines, the Democratic Farmers Labor Party (DFL) went about passing some very restrictive gun laws in 2023 and 2024 that flew under the radar. It seems the only time we make national news is for something bad. This has eld to a gap of coverage in the 2nd Amendment Community on what the laws in Minnesota, how they have changed, and what is trying to be enacted. Here at 2 If By Sea Tactical we will do our best to help keep you informed.
With the release of Freedom Finger Triggers dropping their 22TY Forced Reset Trigger (FRT), there are questions on what us Minnesotans can possess. Unfortunately for us, most likely Forced Reset Triggers are illegal in Minnesota. I say most likely they are not, as the law here is murky thanks to a recent court case. In 2024, the then DFL trifecta passed a bill that banned FRTS, Bump Stocks, and Binary triggers. They also had a through away line in the law that banned “trigger activators” whatever that means. This fully went into effect in January of 2025.
However, this is where it gets hard to figure out where the law stands, in August of 2025 a judge overturned the Binary trigger portion of the law. That same judge left the rest of law unanswered in his opinion. The section of law that the Binary Trigger was located in was an update to a piece of legislation passed in 2023. This updated Minnesota statues 609.669. So far there have been no court rulings on this particular piece of legislation.
This is despite the fact, that Federally the ban on FRTs enacted under the Biden administration has been struck down as unconstitutional by the 5th Circuit while being ruled constitutional by the 1st circuit has ruled it constitutional. The issue with this, besides the circuit split, is that the Supreme Court has refused to take these types of restrictions up on per 2nd Amendment Grounds. The highest court has taken this latest infringement up on procedural grounds. The recent Bump Stock ruling by the Supreme Court was also decided on procedural grounds.
So regardless how the Federal Supreme Court rules when it finally steps into the FRT case, they more than likely will continue ruling on Administrative Procedure Act grounds. This will undoubtedly leave state restrictions, like the one in Minnesota, in effect. The ultimate cure for states such as ours that is so heavily divided would be for the Supreme Court to take up and start ruling on the 2nd Amendment like they do the others. In the meantime we can continue to fight for our rights by supporting those who support us like Gun Owners of America, MN Gun Owners Caucus, FPC, NAGR, and others.
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