The ATF’s effort to reevaluate, and possibly reclassify, AR pistols with stabilizer braces has been withdrawn. The reclassification would have put AR pistols with stabilizer braces in the same category as suppressors, machine guns, short-barreled shotguns, and short-barreled rifles, which would have required gun-owners to apply for a $200 “stamp” from the government.
On Wednesday the NRA sent out a tweet, notifying that the ATF had withdrawn it’s effort to reclassify pistol stabilizing braces.
JUST IN: The ATF withdrew its guidance on pistol stabilizing braces.
— NRA (@NRA) December 24, 2020
Thank you to all @NRA members, gun owners, pro-2A members of Congress, @SenateMajLdr McConnell, @RepRichHudson, and all who helped strike down the @ATFHQ’s unsuccessful overreach.
This is an obvious win for Second Amendment supporters who see an increasing regulation of firearms as a threat to American’s constitutional right to own firearms.
While the official ATF withdrawal announcement does state that the ATF seems to abandon its reclassification effort, it does leave the door open for the issue to be brought up again, “pending further Department of Justice review.”
Upon further consultation with the Department of Justice and the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, ATF is withdrawing, pending further Department of Justice review, the notice and request for comments entitled “Objective Factors for Classifying Weapons with ‘Stabilizing Braces’,” that was published on December 18, 2020. As explained in the notice, the proposed guidance was not a regulation. The notice informed and invited comment from the industry and public on a proposed guidance prior to issuing a final guidance document.
