Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) is seeking to scrap the Biden administration's rule-tightening on pistol-stabilizing braces. He decries the crackdown as a breach of the Second Amendment.
Kennedy is planning to introduce the Congressional Review Act with Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS). It would nix new pistol-stabilizing brace rules if it clears with a simple majority. The move comes in response to the Justice Department announcing earlier this year that braces, which effectively convert pistols into short-barreled rifles, will be covered by existing regulations for short-barreled rifles in the National Firearms Act.
MATT GAETZ INTRODUCES BILL TO ABOLISH ATF AFTER NEW RULES ON PISTOL BRACES
"Millions of law-abiding Americans use pistol braces, and many of those Americans rely on braces because they are disabled. If Congress doesn’t correct the ATF’s misguided rule, countless law-abiding gun owners in Louisiana and other states will become criminals in the blink of an eye," Kennedy told Fox News.
Stabilizing braces are accessories that can elongate firearms and sometimes include straps to improve the accuracy of the weapon. The new regulations are specific to "stabilizing braces to convert pistols into rifles with a barrel of less than 16 inches." Current owners will be required to register the weapons within 120 days of the rule being published by the Federal Register.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives is set to enforce the rule and has stressed it will not cover braces "objectively designed and intended as a ‘stabilizing brace’ for use by individuals with disabilities."
Defenders of the policy argue that the braces enable gun owners to sidestep existing regulations on short-barreled rifles, which are governed under the 1930s-era National Firearms Act.
Short-barreled rifles are subject to the National Firearms Act because they are "more easily concealable than long-barreled rifles but have more destructive power than traditional handguns," according to the DOJ.
Marshall echoed Kennedy and contended that the rule amounts to an "unconstitutional gun grab."
"The Biden administration’s war on every American’s fundamental right to bear arms is relentless and an offense to our founders," Marshall told Fox News. "Congress must use every tool at its disposal to stop the Biden ATF from enacting this unconstitutional gun grab and creating its newly proposed anti-Second Amendment gun registry. The Congressional Review Act is one of those important tools."
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Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) is set to introduce a version of the bill in the House, per Fox News. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) previously introduced legislation to abolish the ATF altogether.
The rule came about after Attorney General Merrick Garland tapped the ATF in April 2021 to analyze the matter during an appearance with President Joe Biden at an event about gun violence prevention. His remarks came in the wake of a string of shootings in Boulder, Colorado, and Dayton, Ohio, in which pistols with stabilizing braces were used in mass shootings.