Rep. Matt Gaetz slammed the Biden admin and Democrats on Thursday over a rule requiring gun owners with ‘stabilizing braces’ to register, dispose of, or alter the brace.
On January 13, 2023, the Attorney General signed ATF final rule 2021R-08F, “Factoring Criteria for Firearms with Attached ‘Stabilizing Braces,’” amending ATF’s regulations to clarify when a rifle is designed, made, and intended to be fired from the shoulder. The final rule was published in the Federal Register on January 31, 2023.
If a firearm with the “stabilizing brace” is a short-barreled rifle, it needs to be registered no later than May 31, 2023.
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“I agree with our Democrat colleagues that have to focus on the victims of crime, and boy did we get an earful from some of them in Manhattan earlier this week,” said Gaetz. “What I heard from victims of crime is that they observe the soft-on-crime policies, pushed by Democrats, as far more dangerous than law-abiding gun owners.”
“I heard in that hearing a term I had never heard before from the democrat witness,” said Gaetz. “A crime gun. So I guess there are guns and crime guns, and I was left wondering what makes a gun a crime gun. And I think it’s that it’s in the hands of a criminal committing a crime. The very criminals the Democrats seem quite willing to turn out on our streets time and time again.”
“We heard the Democrat witness at a joint hearing between the judicial committee and the oversight committee, invited by Democrats say that these braces make guns, more powerful, and more lethal. And it was the laugh line of the hearing and similarly rejected by experts. But what this rule proves is that the Biden administration and Democrats are intent to weaponize the ATF in order to erode the second amendment and take away constitutional rights from otherwise, law-abiding Americans,” Gaetz said.
In February, 25 states filed a lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Thursday, alleging that the recently implemented “stabilizing” brace rule is an effort to undermine Americans’ Second Amendment rights.
The suit, filed alongside Second Amendment advocacy groups in the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota, claims that the ATF’s pistol brace rule adds additional regulations, including higher taxes, longer waiting periods, and registration, further saying the rule is “arbitrary and capricious,” according to the lawsuit.
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The rule, announced in January, voids all previous guidance on pistols braces, opting to redefine “rifle” as any weapon “designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended” to be fired from the shoulder, forcing pistol brace owners to register their pistols as short barrel rifles (SBR) with the federal government.
“Let’s call this what it is: an effort to undermine Americans’ Second Amendment rights,” West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said. “This is an egregious final rule turning millions of common firearms accessories into ‘short barreled rifles.’ This is a completely nonsensical regulation.”
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“This is part of the continued attack by the Biden administration against lawful gun owners,” he continued.
The coalition further said that any manufacturers, dealers and individuals that pair stabilizing braces with “99% of pistols” must comply with the National Firearms Act (NFA), meaning those who own pistols with braces must comply, apply for a permit and pay a tax within the next four months.
Many pistol brace owners, including older persons, people with limited mobility and those with smaller stature will be penalized by the rule, as “many lawful gun owners use stabilizers to prevent some recoil when using firearms ” to help with accuracy, according to the release.
“We should not be making it harder for senior citizens and people with disabilities—and many disabled veterans—to defend themselves,” Morrisey said. “I will continue to stand up for the Second Amendment rights of all West Virginians.”
The lawsuit also alleges that the ATF violated the Separation of Powers by implementing the new rule. “This is also another case of a federal agency not staying in its lane and doing the job the Constitution clearly delegates to Congress—writing laws,” Morrisey said. “The Separation of Powers clearly bars federal agencies from making new laws without Congressional
directive.”
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also filed a lawsuit against the ATF Thursday, saying the pistol brace rule is an infringement on Second Amendment rights and is fundamentally unconstitutional.
“This is yet another attempt by the Biden Administration to create a workaround to the U.S. Constitution and expand gun registration in America,” Paxton said in a release. “This rule is dangerous and unconstitutional, and I’m hopeful that this lawsuit will ensure that it is never allowed to take effect.”
This rule is effective on January 31, 2023, the date it was published in the Federal Register.
Any weapons with “stabilizing braces” or similar attachments that constitute rifles under the NFA must be registered no later than May 31, 2023, or the short barrel removed and a 16-inch or longer rifle barrel attached to the firearm; or permanently remove and dispose of, or alter, the “stabilizing brace” such that it cannot be reattached, or the firearm is turned in to your local ATF office. Or the firearm is destroyed.
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