ATF Is Attacking Pistol Braces... Again

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Earlier this week, Biden’s Attorney General Merrick Garland signed ANOTHER new proposed rule about the regulation of pistol braces. This proposed rule (2021R-08) is now on the ATF’s site and its comment page is also already live on the Federal Register under “Factoring Criteria for Firearms With Attached ‘Stabilizing Braces.’”

AR Pistols Are Now SBR’s??

That’s what Garland would love for along with the rest of his anti-gunner cronies — to criminalize hundreds of thousands of law abiding citizens overnight so they can pat themselves on the back at the end of the day. If this proposed rule is enacted, rifles using “stabilizing braces” would be subject to the NFA and be regarded as short barreled rifles. Under the preface of this rule we can reasonably assume that if one were to be caught with an unregistered AR pistol using a brace it would most likely end in being rewarded with a felony charge, fine or potential confiscation. Disclaimer — our legal team is still looking into the full breadth and width of this document.

Changing Another “Definition”

In addition to making more companies’ lives difficult in the industry along with overlooking countless Americans, Garland wants to change the legal definition of what constitutes a “rifle.” So essentially, if his rule passes AR pistols could potentially cease to exist since any AR pistol would then simply be considered a rifle or SBR. While there was no verbiage addressing that, if you do a quick search for the word ‘AR Pistol’ in the proposed rule PDF, you won’t find the phrase being used even once.

What is Worksheet 4999?

If you took a link at the legal verbiage and the official proposed rule document on the ATF’s site, you may have noticed that the PDF is 71 pages long. What else do they have to say here if all they’re trying to do is outlaw pistol braces again? Well, Garland’s come out with a funny scorecard system he’s calling Worksheet 4999. It actually reminds us of when we had to take the driver license driving test the first time. With this worksheet, there is a 1-4 point indicator system for how severe a mistake was made in three different sections. Each section must have an accumulated score of 3 points or less in order to move on to the next section. By the end of the worksheet, if there is an accumulated score of 4 points of more the firearm in question would then be considered a rifle and intended to be used as a “shoulder-fired design.” If a firearm passes the test with a score of 3 or less then it will be considered a “braced handgun” which is legal.

Comment Tips

• Give educated and thoughtful responses.
• Do not cuss or be rude.
• Unfortunately you cannot submit the comment anonymously if you want it to be counted.
• Point out that arm/pistol/stabilizing braces are common because there are over 3 million out there.
• Explain that arm braces are only common now because the ATF previously said they were legal in 2017 (Reversal of ATF Open Letter on the Redesign of “Stabilizing Braces”).
• Describe ways the rule is vague or complicated.
• Explain that the “scorecard” makes no sense.
• Say the proposed rule is arbitrary, vague, complex, unintelligible, over complicated, or burdensome.
• Talk about the potential felony penalty for screwing up a worksheet.
• Call out how asinine and subjective the rules are.
• Say the rule is needlessly complex and will be impossible to enforce.
• State the rule targets lawful gun owners, not criminals.