These popular braces are designed to allow pistols to be shot one-handed more easily. They initially went into production as a mechanism to enable disabled veterans to enjoy sport shooting after their time in the service.
The agency earlier in 2023 reversed years of policy when it issued its unconstitutional regulation governing the popular stabilizer braces. Previously, the ATF declared that these accessories do not create pistols that are now short-barreled rifles (SBRs). That flew out of the window with the new federal push to curb gun rights.
The NRA’s fight against these draconian rules has been ongoing. The organization received clarification from the ATF that stabilizer braces removed from pistols are not required to be destroyed or altered to prevent them from being reattached to the weapon.
Clarification also came from the ATF when it said that imported handguns with stabilizer braces do not have to be destroyed or handed in.
But the agency’s “Factoring Criteria for Firearms with Attached ‘Stabilizing Braces’” went into force on June 1. This led to the NRA seeking preliminary and then permanent injunctive relief for its millions of members from the effects of the Final Rule.
The state of Texas and other gun rights groups have already been granted relief by the courts from ATF prosecution.
NRA Executive Vice President and CEO Wayne LaPierre said the organization has been steadfast in its fight against yet another federal overreach. The group now “aims to intervene in the Texas lawsuit.” He added that the NRA is “pursuing relief to protect our members — and to bring a halt to this attack on their freedom.”
The intervention is in a suit brought by the Second Amendment Foundation and other plaintiffs who sued the ATF, Attorney General Merrick Garland, the Department of Justice, and ATF Director Steven Dettelbach.
Several other categories of gun owners have already been shielded from complying with the new rule. They include members of the Second Amendment Foundation, Gun Owners of America, as well as Texas state employees.
This was granted by the court in late May.
In its complaint against the Final Rule, the NRA said “millions of Americans, including NRA members, who own a pistol and a stabilizing brace regardless of style or caliber or type of braces must either dispose of, alter, or register their firearms. If they guess wrong, they face the prospect of felony prosecution, 10 years in prison, and large fines.”
The organization backed a lawsuit filed in February in North Dakota that also challenged the ATF’s pistol brace rule. This suit brought together a coalition of 25 states and was spearheaded by North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wringley and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrissey.
Its ultimate hope is to receive a permanent injunction for all law-abiding Americans against the regulation.
NRA President Charles Cotton put Washington “on notice.” He declared “the NRA will continue to defend its members and their constitutional freedoms — fighting this rule and the anti-Second Amendment agenda in every forum available.”
In its complaint, the NRA noted that it has millions of members, including roughly 350,000 in Texas alone. That makes the Lone Star State number one for NRA membership in the U.S.
The group said that its rank and file are being irreparably harmed by implementation of the Final Rule and thus injunctive relief is needed.
