In a tremendous victory for gun rights nationwide, the ATF’s 2023 rule which required pistol brace owners to register their firearms with the agency or risk felony charges was struck down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit.
The novel regulation was originally introduced in January of last year and was immediately faced with legal challenges by gun rights organizations and groups across the country. On November 8th, 2023, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that the pistol brace rule was unlawful in the conclusion of a suit filed by the Firearms Policy Coalition and Maxim Defense. Although the ruling initially only applied to the specific plaintiffs, it was eventually expanded to include all Americans. Subsequently, 25 state Attorneys General sued the ATF in the 8th circuit on July 3rd of this year for the alleged “intentional vagueness” of the rule.
Pistol, or stabilizing, braces were originally invented in 2012 with the intention of providing assistance for disabled individuals who lack the convenience of shooting with both hands, although their use soon became increasingly common among all sorts of law abiding gun enthusiasts. The attachments provide enhanced precision and efficiency, which helped skyrocket their popularity among American gun owners. The ATF originally allowed pistol braces upon their review of the product in 2013, with their recent change of heart having allowed ten years of widespread use.
The rule deemed any firearm with a barrel under 16 inches that possesses an equipped stabilizing brace to be a short barrelled rifle, or SBR, which requires registration with the federal government. With its official publication on January 31st, gun owners were provided 120 days to either register their firearm and pay a $200 fee, remove and alter the brace, turn in their firearm, destroy their firearm, or become felons. The rule did not provide an exemption for disabled people, for whom the pistol brace was initially intended, or military veterans.
Felony charges for violation of the ATF’s new guideline were not lenient, and included upwards of 10 years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines.
The ATF, pursuant to the United States Constitution, is not a lawmaking entity, but rather a bureaucratic executive agency responsible for enforcing laws passed by congress and signed by the president. For whatever reason, however, Americans have been subjected to the targeted tyranny of this agency, who are allowed to implement, alter, and subjectively interpret regulations that infringe on the God-given rights of the American people to self defense and preservation.
It is clear that a major goal of this regulation was to progress towards the implementation of a federal gun registry, which has been a longtime goal of the radical left and would inevitably lead to a nationwide confiscation effort.
With the stroke of a pen, unelected Washington bureaucrats were able to categorize thousands of law abiding Americans as sudden felons. Thankfully, courts have pushed back against the ATF’s tyranny. The 8th Circuit ruled that the prohibition of pistol braces was “arbitrary and capricious,” solidifying its likely elimination and preserving Americans from fear of becoming criminals.
Ideally, courts will begin moving beyond mere critiques of ATF law and start questioning why they’re allowed to implement new regulations at all. The backlash from elected officials and state governments caused by the pistol brace ban have hopefully pushed the needle in that direction and opened conversation for the eventual eradication of the ATF altogether.
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