Update – Today, June 22, 2023, the Senate voted 50-49 to reject the resolution that would have overturned the Biden/ATF rule on pistol braces. The White House pledged to veto the legislation if it passed the Senate. Nevertheless, numerous ongoing court cases continue to challenge the unconstitutional rule on many fronts.
Under the Biden administration, the ATF decided that assisting physically impaired American citizens with pistol braces would now be illegal, making 40 million firearms illegal and the owners of those firearms’ potential criminals. The ATF said, destroy them, register them, or become a felon. It would appear they really just want them registered for tracking purposes.
The new ATF rule that went into effect on January 31 and became active on June 1 received instant push back. Gun Owners Foundation won a preliminary injunction against the new unconstitutional rule in the Texas/GOA v. Garland case. Since GOA and the state of Texas secured the injunction, an argument can be made on the merits asking the court to completely strike down the overreaching rule.
The ATF accused firearm Manufacturers of evading US law by manufacturing pistol braces, a harmless and often necessary accessory, claiming the pistol brace turns pistols into short barreled rifles. Congressional Republicans decided they were not having any of this unconstitutional power grab by an agency who has no right to do so. They pushed for a resolution to reverse the rule.
In a contentious floor debate, House Republicans accused the administration of executive overreach and then went on to pass House joint resolution 44 in a 219 to 210 vote. The resolution would repeal the new pistol brace rule and prevent approximately 40 million lawful American Citizens from becoming felons. Joe Biden has already vowed to veto the bill should it make its way through the Senate and to his desk, essentially turning those otherwise lawful citizens into criminals by the stroke of a pen.
Despite the fact that two Democrats voted in favor of House joint resolution 44, other Democrats said that the bill will help “kill people.” Typical fear, campaign rhetoric, but what else would you expect from the anti-gun fear mongers? The truth is this bill would help more people have the ability to defend themselves should they need to. The ATF rule, in fact, would put those very people in harm’s way. Maybe that’s what the Biden administration wants.
At this point, Joe Biden seems to be getting extremely frustrated and that doesn’t help his “condition.” He had a lot of confusing things to say including the false claim that pistol braces allow for larger, caliber rounds and “if you put a pistol on a brace it turns into a gun.” Not sure where he comes up with this stuff but unfortunately, there are people who don’t know any better who actually believe him.
Regardless of Joe’s promise to veto, this is good news for gun owners. We didn’t ask for this fight, but we will engage legislatively if necessary.
