Is the ATF About to Change the rule on Pistol Braces Again?
The debate over pistol braces has caused seesaw rulings from the ATF and we are in for yet another change. The ATF ruled in 2015 that shouldering a weapon's brace with a barrel length of less than 16 inches constituted a "redesign" of the weapon into an SBR. That changed later in 2017, when the ATF reissued a letter claiming that shooting a brace-equipped weapon from the shoulder no longer made it an NFA firearm.
Since that time, we have all enjoyed occasionally shouldering our pistol braces. That is until today. Congressman Matt Gaetz today announced on his podcast that the ATF is drafting secret rules restricting the possession by American citizens of certain pistol braces, and that he has sent them a letter demanding that they stop.
Rep. Gaetz Blows the Whistle on ATF's Plans for Pistol Braces
In a statement, Gaetz said,
"We understand that ATF is currently considering restricting one arm brace model owned by over 700,000 Americans," Congressman Gaetz writes along with six other members of Congress. "We strongly urge ATF to cease taking any actions and reconsider or rescind any secret determinations which call into question the legality of firearms owned by millions of law-abiding Americans."
Rep. Matt Gaetz
You can see Rep. Gaetz's press release here, but it appears that they are going after one specific brace for the time being. But, that will open the flood gates and will impact a huge segment of gun owners.
A Cop's Professional View on Pistol Braces
Banning pistol braces doesn't make us safer. In fact, many aspects of the NFA do not make us safer and only makes criminals of otherwise law abiding citizens. As an example, making a silencer an NFA item has nothing to do with safety. While training cops in New Zealand, I found that they had tough gun laws, but I could buy a silencer in a store. It is this way in most of the world. The unhinged left has led our legislators to believe that you can quietly shoot with a silencer. I wish that were true. I'd make that super quiet silencer and make a lot of money. We all know they aren't that quiet.
The same goes for pistol braces. Only a handful of times did I ever recover a gun with a pistol brace that was used in a crime. Every single time, that pistol brace equipped gun was illegally possessed by the criminal. In fact, working gangs and drugs most of my career, that was the fact for a majority of the crime guns I recovered.
We will keep you updated as we learned more. In the mean time, enjoy that pistol brace and keep an eye on the news.