The ATF has now officially published Biden’s pistol ban in the federal register, and if you don’t comply with this unconstitutional action – and send in your private information or
destroy your legally purchased firearm – you could face up to 10 years in jail and a $250,000 fine.
At issue is the new ATF rule on "pistol stabilizing devices" and whether a pistol with a “brace” or "pistol stabilizing device" ceases to be a pistol and becomes a “short-barreled rifle” regulated and taxed under the National Firearms Act.
Since 2012, when Biden was serving as then-President Barack Obama’s vice president, ATF has recognized that stabilizing braces serve a legitimate function, and the inclusion of a stabilizing brace on a pistol or other firearm does not automatically subject that firearm to the provisions of the National Firearms Act. That’s because stabilizing braces were first designed and intended to help disabled veterans fire large format pistols.
According to reporting by our friends at Ammoland Shooting Sports News, the new rule (ATF final rule 2021R-08F) was published on the ATF’s website on January 13, 2023, and is set to be posted on the Federal Register one day before the firearms industry’s largest trade show, SHOT Show. The regulation will affect millions of Americans that currently own pistol stabilizing devices. What has been considered a pistol for years will now be regarded as a short-barreled rifle (SBR) and be subject to the National Firearms Act (NFA).
*A short-barreled rifle is a rifle having a barrel or barrels of less than 16 inches in length which is subject to registration and a $200 tax.
The proposed rule used a form known as “Worksheet 4999” to determine if a firearm equipped with a pistol brace would be considered an SBR by using a point system. For the final Rule the ATF ditched the form in favor of a widespread declaration that almost every pistol equipped with a brace of any kind would be considered an SBR.
“Worksheet 4999 was intended to ensure uniform consideration and application of the statutory definition of those terms. Based on the comments received, the Department agrees that the proposed Worksheet 4999 and point system did not achieve these intended purposes,” the Final Rule reads.
Under the new rule, any firearm that is “designed or redesigned made or remade and intended to be fired from the shoulder” will be considered an SBR.
This designation includes devices such as pistol stabilizing braces which the ATF assumes the shooter installed to be able to shoulder the gun. Also, if a firearm merely has the surface area that would allow it to be fired from the shoulder, the ATF might consider it an SBR if it has a weight or length consistent with a rifle.
The new regulation is expected to cost gun owners over $260 million. It is expected to cost the federal government over $3 million. In addition to the cost, it will put an increasing burden on the already overwhelmed NFA division of the ATF. the ATF claims that the average wait time will be 90 days, although Ammoland reported Silencer Shop is showing a wait time of eight months for a tax stamp. Not only will it bog down the new tax stamp applications for SBRs, but it might drastically increase the wait time for other NFA items, such as sound suppressors.
According to a Gun Owners of America analysis of the new rule on pistol braces, millions of gun owners like YOU now have a 120-day “amnesty” period to send your personal information – including your address, your social security number, your fingerprints, and a photo of your firearm – to the ATF, or become felons.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. and Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan are set to introduce a Congressional Review Act resolution in the Senate once Congress is officially notified of the rule. The resolution, if passed with a simple majority, would nullify the Biden administration rule.
"Millions of law-abiding Americans use pistol braces, and many of those Americans rely on braces because they are disabled. If Congress doesn’t correct the ATF’s misguided rule, countless law-abiding gunowners in Louisiana and other states will become criminals in the blink of an eye," Kennedy told Fox News Digital.
"The Biden administration’s assault on the Second Amendment isn’t going to stop unless we defend this fundamental liberty," he added.
Marshall echoed Kennedy's urgency concerning Second Amendment rights, telling Fox the rule was an "offense" to America's Founding Fathers.
"The Biden administration’s war on every American’s fundamental right to bear arms is relentless and an offense to our founders," Marshall said. "Congress must use every tool at its disposal to stop the Biden ATF from enacting this unconstitutional gun grab and creating its newly proposed anti-2nd Amendment gun registry. The Congressional Review Act is one of those important tools, and I’m pleased to co-lead this effort with Sen. Kennedy."
Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., will introduce the House version of the resolution in conjunction with Kennedy and Marshall.
"The ATF's unconstitutional pistol brace rule reveals the agency's brazen disregard for our Constitution and Congress' sole legislative authority. Unelected anti-gun bureaucrats simply do not have the power to propel President Biden's goal of disarming our nation and dismantling our Second Amendment freedoms by registering and banning millions of firearms," Clyde told Fox.
We commend Senators Kennedy and Marshall and Rep. Clyde for their efforts to pass a Congressional Review Act disapproval, but there are also other ways of beating this unconstitutional rule. We urge CHQ readers and friends to call their Senators and Representative, the Capitol Switchboard is (202) 224-3121, tell them you demand they use the congressional power of the purse to block the implementation of this arbitrary, capricious and unconstitutional rule.
CHQ Editor George Rasley is a certified rifle and pistol instructor, a Glock ® certified pistol armorer and a veteran of over 300 political campaigns, including every Republican presidential campaign from 1976 to 2008. He served as lead advance representative for Governor Sarah Palin in 2008 and has served as a staff member, consultant, or advance representative for some of America's most recognized conservative Republican political figures, including President Ronald Reagan and Jack Kemp. A member of American MENSA, he served in policy and communications positions on the House and Senate staff, and during the George H.W. Bush administration he served on the White House staff of Vice President Dan Quayle.
Second Amendment
gun rights
pistol stabilizing devices
gun registries
ATF
assault weapons ban
red flag orders
safe storage requirements
gun confiscation
National Firearms Act
ATF final rule 2021R-08F
short-barreled rifle (SBR)
Worksheet 4999
ATF NFA division
Congressional Review Act disapproval