ATF Plans to Finalize Pistol Brace Rule in January

[Elderberry]

NRA-ILA 1/4/23

In a recent court filing, the Department of Justice claimed that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) “expects to publish a final rule in January 2023.” That rule is the Factoring Criteria for Firearms with Attached “Stabilizing Braces” which was first proposed by the agency in June 2021. And, is the most recent in a long line of ATF guidance, rulings, and rules regarding firearms with attached stabilizing braces.

If finalized, the rule would likely subject most firearms with attached braces to the provisions of the National Firearms Act (NFA), which include additional taxation, long wait times, and registration.

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 NFA. That’s because stabilizing braces were first designed and intended to help disabled veterans fire large format pistols.

More: https://www.nraila.org/articles/20230104/atf-plans-to-finalize-pistol-brace-rule-in-january

[sneakypete]

Take it to the extreme,and a case could be made by the BATF that a traditional wooden rifle stock is also a "firearm brace".

And we ALL know they are capable of taking it to an extreme. Hell,it's what they live for.

[Sighlass]

As tempting as it is to say "well it ain't my cup of tea anyway", I have found if you give an inch here and there, the government will come with tape measures scrutinizing everything you have until you have nothing. It is a freaking pistol that can be somewhat lengthen to be slightly more accurate, but I don't think druggies are flocking to use them. Let them be, they are helpful to some and "shall not be infringed" sorta trumps it all. 

The government is just being a butt when it finds a crack to stick it's roots in.

[Smokin Joe]

It is a short step from a stabilizing brace to ruling that a handgrip forward of the trigger group is the same thing...annnnnd NFA! or a magazine forward of the trigger group (broomhandle Mauser for example) constitutes a 'handgrip'...or....

Corrosion of a Right has the same eventual effect of taking big bites.