ATF Released New Proposed Pistol Brace Rules

[parabelum]

Saw one of the dissections of this mess somewhere where the supposition is that, should this be allowed to stand, the per se “enforcement” would be more so incidental e.g., person gets stopped for traffic violation when AR pistol with a brace is noticed, call for [fill in the blanks] prompts entry into the residence where AR pistol with a brace is noticed etc.
In those cases, person may catch additional grief if unable to show proof of compliance, zee papers jawohl!

A [potential] misdemeanor turns into felony kind of a thing.

[Grayling813]

An aspect I haven't seen mentioned anywhere are the LEOs who have bought 10 inch barreled ARs with a brace setup. They're lighter, handier to manipulate inside a vehicle and have sufficient firepower for the distances they're likely to engage at. The reduced velocity and range of those actually aids in public safety surrounding a conflict scene. Those folk are gonna find themselves in the same sort of pickle as the public. Hope they're being sufficiently vocal about it themselves.

LEO have special privileges above mere citizens. Their badge will protect them, assuming of course that they comply with the ATF’s requests for assistance rounding up the new felon gun owners.

[Bolton Strid]

New more reasoned voice responding to the FUDD and the Brace Rules.

Those fuddy-fudds out there best pay attention, any boomstick is at risk with this Regime. They could wake up one day and find their H&R break-open single shot shotgun has now been classified as a ballistic assault cannon destructive device and must be surrendered immediately.

Arbitrary and ambiguous maliciousness like this must be crushed. Buried at a crossroads with a stake through its heart and the ground salted behind. They get away with this, the sky's the limit with the harassment. What's to keep them from suddenly declaring 16 inch barrels are illegal, must now be 16 .125 inches to comply. Yeah, they'd try if they were comfortable enough about it. All hands on deck to resist.

[K.Mooneyham]

New more reasoned voice responding to the FUDD and the Brace Rules.

Those fuddy-fudds out there best pay attention, any boomstick is at risk with this Regime. They could wake up one day and find their H&R break-open single shot shotgun has now been classified as a ballistic assault cannon destructive device and must be surrendered immediately.

Arbitrary and ambiguous maliciousness like this must be crushed. Buried at a crossroads with a stake through its heart and the ground salted behind. They get away with this, the sky's the limit with the harassment. What's to keep them from suddenly declaring 16 inch barrels are illegal, must now be 16 .125 inches to comply. Yeah, they'd try if they were comfortable enough about it. All hands on deck to resist.

I understand that some of the folks who are members here were combat troops or police officers in a former part of their lives. They obtained and/or utilized skill-sets where they learned, in a professional manner, to make other human beings dead. However, many of the rest of us do NOT have those skill-sets. I, for instance, am an aircraft mechanic, and I think at least a pretty good one. I'm a member of this forum, for many years now, because the other members have helped inform me on the topic of self-defense and carrying a firearm for that reason. Thus, I am always open to obtaining new knowledge. So, by all means, please explain to me what real-world steps you would like me to take to make this resistance happen.

[Bolton Strid]

So, by all means, please explain to me what real-world steps you would like me to take to make this resistance happen.

By all means I will. Checking this illegitimate regime with the logical tools at hand, which is a legal beatdown at every turn via the due processes that we still have, even as dysfunctional as they are. That is how we "resist" under the current circumstances since anyone who even merely disagrees with or actively opposes this Regime by thought or civil deed are considered by them to be resistors to their agendas who must be suppressed by comparable means at their disposal. Where'd all this "make other human beings dead" violence stuff come from, fit in at? What did you think I was saying? Is violence the first thought that comes to you as the solution for political disagreements, confrontation? Perhaps you shouldn't be carry a weapon around.

[Paladin]

Why the ATF’s Pistol Brace Ban Is Unconstitutional

The nearly 90-year-old federal law restricting short-barreled rifles has been superceded by time and technology. It’s past time the Supreme Court took notice.

[Paladin]

The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.

Scalia noted the individual right was designed so that any citizen could own and bring to service in the militia a weapon suitable for use as an individual soldier.

But the most recent military rifle used by individual soldiers is the M4 carbine, which has a 14.5-inch barrel. Hmm—that makes it a short-barreled rifle. If the military is using SBRs, then the determinations in Miller and Heller that a weapon be in common use and suitable for use in the militia are satisfied. The ATF attempt to regulate them should be overturned and the NFA modified to acknowledge this reality. I’m pretty sure Justice Clarence Thomas already noticed that and is just waiting for the right lawsuit to come the Court’s way

[Grayling813]

The new rules are due to be posted to the Federal Register tomorrow 1/31/2023. The 120 day entrapment...oops...120 day amnesty period starts tomorrow.

[Rafe]

The new rules are due to be posted to the Federal Register tomorrow 1/31/2023. The 120 day entrapment...oops...120 amnesty period starts tomorrow.

Here's where to find the actual document in the federal register: https://www.federalregister.gov/public- ... ing-braces.

It was filed at 08:45 this morning Eastern Time, and will release automatically tomorrow...all 291 pages of it.

For TAM's prior question/dilemma, it seems that the SCOTUS decision in United States v. Thompson/Center Arms means that the brace can be removed and not have to be destroyed if the owner also has a 16-inch barrel or longer upper to which the brace could be attached, or already has a registered NFA SBR lower. We shall see...

[Grayling813]

ATF downplays impact of new gun ruling, expects 60% to register AR ‘pistols’
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... 57e36d982e

But in the impact statement, ATF said those figures are inflated. It estimated that just three million people might be impacted.

It estimated that of those with the firearms, 826,000 will decide to register their 1.6 million weapons with the rest turning them into ATF or destroying or altering them.

[Rafe]

ATF downplays impact of new gun ruling, expects 60% to register AR ‘pistols’
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... 57e36d982e

But in the impact statement, ATF said those figures are inflated. It estimated that just three million people might be impacted.

It estimated that of those with the firearms, 826,000 will decide to register their 1.6 million weapons with the rest turning them into ATF or destroying or altering them.

Yeah; uh huh. I still call total bull patties on the ATF's estimates. May not be the 40 million that others have claimed, but it's really difficult to believe that the ATF isn't off by at least 500%.

And to make it official, the publication of the final document in the federal registry is a done deal: https://www.federalregister.gov/documen ... ing-braces. Cite as "88 FR 6478"; Docket No. ATF 2021R-08F, AG Order No. 5589-2023.

The official notification date--and the countdown to making millions into felons--is January 31, 2023. The clock has started.

[Grayling813]

Rep. Andrew Clyde to Use Congressional Review Act to Override ATF Stabilizer Brace Rule
https://www.breitbart.com/2nd-amendment ... race-rule/

Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) announced Monday he will use the Congressional Review Act against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF’s) pistol/stabilizer brace rule.

Breitbart News reported that the ATF’s pistol/stabilizer brace rule was finalized January 13, 2023, and that the agency is giving owners of pistols with said braces 120 days to register the firearms, once the rule appears in the Federal Registry.

On January 14, 2023, Breitbart News noted that the Congressional Review Act offered an avenue by which Congress could block the ATF’s rule.

Rep. Clyde and his colleagues are ready to use the Congressional Review Act and other means to stop the rule from turning millions of law-abiding gun owners into criminals.

Clyde spoke on the House floor Monday, saying:

Next week, I will reintroduce the Stop Harassing Owners of Rifles Today Act, or the SHORT Act, to repeal elements of the National Firearms Act, thereby prohibiting the ATF from registering and banning pistols with stabilizing braces. Additionally, as soon as the ATF’s unlawful rule is published to the Federal Register, I will introduce a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act, to override the Biden administration’s unlawful overreach.

Gun owners, hear me loud and clear:

We’re fighting for you and your Second Amendment freedoms—and we will never give up. pic.twitter.com/0LfUslyEwM

— Rep. Andrew Clyde (@Rep_Clyde) January 30, 2023

The Brookings Institute summarizes the Congressional Review Act:

Passed as part of the Contract with America Advancement Act of 1996, the Congressional Review Act creates a streamlined procedure by which Congress can disapprove and thereby nullify regulations promulgated by various federal government agencies. The Congressional Review Act quires that all rules be reported to Congress. Upon receiving that report, Congress then has 60 legislative working days (which is generally a much longer period than 60 calendar days) to introduce a special joint resolution of disapproval of the rule.

That resolution can be discharged from committee and can avoid the Senate’s filibuster, thereby empowering Congress to contend with the administrative state’s vast rulemaking powers on something closer to an equal footing.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office explains the Congressional Review Act thusly: “The Congressional Review Act allows Congress to review ‘major’ rules issued by federal agencies before the rules take effect. Congress may also disapprove new rules, resulting in the rules having no force or effect.”

[Rafe]

Rep. Andrew Clyde to Use Congressional Review Act to Override ATF Stabilizer Brace Rule

Thanks for that.



I'm writing my Congress-critter to ask him to support Rep. Clyde's efforts on this.

[The Annoyed Man]

The new rules are due to be posted to the Federal Register tomorrow 1/31/2023. The 120 day entrapment...oops...120 amnesty period starts tomorrow.

Here's where to find the actual document in the federal register: https://www.federalregister.gov/public- ... ing-braces.

It was filed at 08:45 this morning Eastern Time, and will release automatically tomorrow...all 291 pages of it.

For TAM's prior question/dilemma, it seems that the SCOTUS decision in United States v. Thompson/Center Arms means that the brace can be removed and not have to be destroyed if the owner also has a 16-inch barrel or longer upper to which the brace could be attached, or already has a registered NFA SBR lower. We shall see...

This is what I was hoping for—assuming the new rule survives any court challenges (I hope that SCOTUS squashes it). I do have both spare 16" or longer unused uppers (as well as the parts to build several more), as well as a registered lower. If you’re right, I’m covered.

But given that the ATF is WAY out of control, as encouraged by Bei Den Jo's administration, I’m still not feeling particularly sanguine about our prospects unless and until SCOTUS squashes these overreaches flat.

[Rafe]

Well, you know that I can't even spell "lawyer," so my comment is worth less than the packet of Splenda in your morning coffee. But it was that 1992 case that sure seemed to others to point out, pretty clearly, a precedent that a short-barreled rifle "actually must be assembled" in order to be "made" within the NFA's meaning. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/504/505/

If Congress doesn't halt this thing in its tracks, I imagine my friend will go the same route: remove the brace and drop it in a parts box until this matter gets up to SCOTUS and is reversed.

That is, if my friend is able to take the darned brace off his bought-as-a-complete-firearm pistol. He tried again by clamping the gun, wrapped in a towel for padding, in a vise. No go. That brace is Loctited on that sucker. Any more torque than has already been applied is gonna damage the gun. My friend now thinks his only option will be to take a Dremel to the plastic of the brace and cut it off...which means that, with his surgeon-like dexterity, he's sure to plow rivulets of torn metal into the buffer tube. The brace is flush up against the staked buffer tube tightening ring thingy, and he's pretty sure he can't gracefully remove the buffer tube without getting the brace off first. But he says he'll wait around 90 days and see what happens with this rule before he starts carving away at the brace with an electric cutting tool. Any advice for my friend of a different way to approach it will be appreciated. I'll relay the info to him.