The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives denies violating a court docket order vacating the controversial pistol brace rule adopted in 2023.
The senior vice chairman of Gun House owners of America is accusing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) of trying an end-run round court docket orders blocking enforcement of its personal 2023 rule regulating pistol stabilizing braces.
The ATF denies violating any court docket orders, saying it’s imposing the prevailing prohibition on short-barreled rifles (SBRs).
The brace is a tool invented in 2012 to help disabled shooters with aiming large-format pistols primarily based on rifle frames, such because the AR-15. It connects the rear of the pistol and the shooter’s forearm to regular their purpose.
In April 2020, the ATF launched a regulation of the units. The rule was adopted on Jan. 31, 2023, as a result of braces have been getting used to transform authorized pistols into unlawful SBRs, based on the ATF.
In December 2024, an unidentified GOA member emailed the ATF about attaching a brace to a not too long ago bought pistol.
“Nonetheless, I’ve encountered conflicting info relating to whether or not this modification would require the firearm to be registered as an SBR. Might you please present clarification on the relevant rules?” the GOA member requested within the electronic mail.
The ATF’s Dec. 12, 2024, response raised eyebrows.
An electronic mail from the ATF’s Firearms Business Applications Department (FIPB) acknowledged the June 13, 2024, resolution to vacate the pistol brace rule. The company denied violating that order, stating that it was imposing a pre-existing federal legislation in opposition to short-barreled rifles (SBRs).
“Federal legislation requires a pistol with an connected stabilizing brace or inventory be registered as a short-barreled rifle (SBR),” the FIPB electronic mail acknowledged.
“The District Court docket’s order doesn’t prohibit enforcement of the Nationwide Firearms Act (NFA) or Gun Management Act (GCA).
“ATF stays chargeable for enforcement of statutory provisions pertaining to a rifle having a barrel or barrels of lower than 16 inches in size beneath the NFA and ‘short-barreled rifles’ beneath the GCA.’”
Beneath the NFA, possession of SBRs may end up in fines of as much as $10,000 and 10 years in jail.
Luis Valdez, GOA’s Florida director, mentioned the ATF is making an attempt to bypass the court docket by reinterpreting the NFA and GCA.
“They’re claiming that the power to shoulder a handgun makes it a short-barreled rifle,” Valdez instructed The Epoch Instances.
GOA Senior Vice President Erich Pratt despatched a letter to Megan Bennett, assistant director of the ATF’s Workplace of Enforcement Applications and Companies, on Jan. 9, 2025.
Within the letter, Pratt took problem with the ATF’s claims.
A pistol stabilizing brace in an undated picture. Michael Clements/The Epoch Instances
“FIPB suggested this GOA member that if a pistol is supplied with a stabilizing brace, then it’s an SBR as a categorical matter—no matter a number of courts’ orders that ATF not implement that reasoning, and even regardless of the rule’s factorial take a look at and ATF’s assurance that solely ‘sure weapons outfitted with ‘stabilizing braces’ can be SBRs beneath that take a look at,” Pratt wrote.
In response to an electronic mail searching for remark, William Ryan, an ATF official, directed The Epoch Instances to the company’s Public and Governmental Affairs Directorate.
That workplace didn’t reply by press time.
On Jan. 13, Valdez mentioned the ATF had not responded to Pratt’s letter both. He mentioned the ATF’s response would issue into what motion GOA takes.
“If we now have to undergo the courts, we’ll undergo the courts,” Valdez mentioned.
The rule was controversial from its inception.
Regardless of a number of open letters from the ATF stating that braces didn’t convert pistols into short-barreled rifles, the ultimate rule reversed these choices.
President Joe Biden known as for the rule in April 2020 after 10 folks at a grocery retailer in Boulder, Colorado, have been killed by a person utilizing a gun with a stabilizing brace.
A number of gun rights teams, companies, and people sued the ATF, ATF Director Steven Dettelbach, and Legal professional Common Merrick Garland over the rule.
The lawsuits have been mixed into Mock v. Garland, which led to a preliminary injunction in April 2024—and ultimately, the District Court docket resolution to vacate the rule.
On Aug. 15, 2024, the federal government filed discover that it might enchantment in opposition to that call.