With New Pistol Brace Rule, ATF Seeks To Turn Millions Of Law-Abiding Gun Owners Into Felons

President Joe Biden has ordered the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to approve a rule which will allow them to turn the tables. the up to 40 million There are approximately 500,000 Americans who have legally acquired pistol brace-equipped firearms to be federal felons.

This rule aims to reclassify pistol braced firearms as short-barrel rifles. These require additional registration with the government, and a tax stamp which normally amounts to $200 under the National Firearms Act. Although the ATF suggested it could waive the fee, technically the Treasury collects it.

Gun owners can avoid up to 10 years imprisonment and a possible $10,000 fine by reclassifying legally acquired weapons as short barrel rifles. This will require a lengthy, expensive, red tape-laden process. Gun owners will have 120 days to comply with the ATF’s final rule published in the federal Register. The ATF however, warns Americans wearing pistol braces are most likely already “violating the [National Firearms Act] by possessing an unregistered rifle with a barrel of less than 16 inches.”

The ATF will require pistol brace-equipped gun owners to surrender any firearms they refuse to register as NFA weapons and to pay $200 tax stamp. Firearms owners in the 21 states with SBR bans To avoid being punished or penalized, they will be required to surrender or destroy any pistol brace-equipped firearms.

Biden requested the rule personally in 2021. “hundreds of thousands” It was opposed by a majority of members of public. All 117th Senate Republicans, except Rob Portman & Susan Collins, urged ATF to repeal the rule. “turn millions of law-abiding Americans into criminals overnight, and would constitute the largest executive branch-imposed gun registration and confiscation scheme in American history.”

“The proposed rule is worse than merely abdicating your responsibility to protect Americans from criminals; you’re threatening to turn law-abiding Americans into criminals by imposing the largest executive branch-initiated gun registration and confiscation program in American history,” Senators wrote.

Despite strong public opposition and the threat of legal and congressional involvement, the ATF didn’t budge.

‘Legislative Rulemaking’

ATF Director Steven Dettelbach claimed last week The rule is as follows: “prevents people from circumventing the laws Congress passed almost a century ago.” He and Attorney General Merrick Galrland both shamelessly admit that Congress is not being redefined, but the executive branch. “rifle” Above and beyond what is in the statute.

“Almost a century ago, Congress determined that short-barreled rifles must be subject to heightened requirements,” Garland made the statement in a statement. “Today’s rule makes clear that firearm manufacturers, dealers, and individuals cannot evade these important public safety protections simply by adding accessories to pistols that transform them into short-barreled rifles.”

The ATF determined In 2012, pistol braces were not available a decade earlier. “alter the classification of a pistol or other firearm.” The agency’s approval was based on the fact That