TOPIC: Gun Owners of America Commits to Fighting the DOJ’s Unlawful Regulation on Pistol Braces
New regulations surrounding the popular accessory known as a “Pistol Stabilizing Brace” have been announced by the Dept. of Justice. This single action could turn millions of gun owners into felons overnight. The significance of this week’s announcement? The proposed rule is a fulfillment of an executive order issued by President Joe Biden.
“This proposed rulemaking on pistol-braced firearms represents a gross abuse of executive authority,” said Aidan Johnston, Director of Federal Affairs for Gun Owners of America. “Millions of otherwise law-abiding gun owners now will be forced to destroy, register, or surrender their lawfully-acquired pistol-braced firearms. Gun owners are disgusted by today’s blatant infringement on their right to keep arms by the Biden Administration. Gun Owners of America will work to defeat these unlawful regulations during the comment period or, failing that, through legal action.”
This single action could turn millions of gun owners into felons overnight for these reasons:
- It appears the ATF has intentionally designed its Factoring Criteria for Rifled Barrel Weapons with Accessories Commonly Referred to as “Stabilizing Braces” to affect a complete ban of every pistol-braced firearm currently on the market.
- Specifically, ATF proposes to create a “worksheet” to be used to classify firearms as either legal pistols or illegal short-barreled rifles. Yet under that framework, literally nothing would count as a pistol.
- Worksheet Section I: Most pistol-braced firearms would fail this section due to the fact that the shortest AR-style firearms are over the ATF’s new 26-inch limit on a pistol’s maximum length.
- Worksheet Section II: Virtually if not all pistol braces on the market—including those previously approved for sale by ATF – would receive more than four allowed “points”. That means the firearm would be classified as a short-barreled rifle.
- And if any firearm and brace happened to make it through to Section III of the worksheet, it would quickly rack up enough additional points that it would be considered an SBR under ATF’s arbitrary standards.
- Finally, without even using its worksheet, ATF’s proposed rule would outright ban the use of braces on popular “firearms” such as the Mossberg Shockwave and the Remington TAC 14.
Gun Owners of America, and its sister organization Gun Owners Foundation, are nonprofits dedicated to protecting the right to keep and bear arms without compromise. For more information, visit GOA’s Press Center.
GUEST: Erich Pratt, Senior Vice President, Gun Owners of America or Michael Hammond, Legal Counsel for Gun Owners of America
AVAILABILITY: Immediate
MEDIA CONTACT: Tamara Colbert, e: tamara@ohsweetliberty.com, c: 626-244-5571
