Key Takeaways
- Thirteen Republican senators urged Acting ATF Director Daniel Driscoll to halt Biden-era restrictions on pistol stabilizing braces.
- They expressed concern over the enforcement of rules treating these pistols as illegal short-barreled rifles, despite the rule being vacated.
- The senators argue that such restrictions violate Second Amendment rights and enhance firearm safety by improving accuracy.
- They demand a public statement from the ATF against further enforcement and clarification that braced firearms aren’t short-barreled rifles.
- The letter emphasizes the need for vigilance against regulatory overreach even after judicial rulings.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Thirteen Republican senators sent a letter to Acting ATF Director Daniel Driscoll demanding the Trump administration immediately stop enforcing Biden-era restrictions on pistol stabilizing braces.
The April 15 letter expresses “deep concern” that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives continues enforcing the legal theory behind a rule that treated most pistols with stabilizing braces as illegal short-barreled rifles.
The Biden administration’s “Factoring Criteria for Firearms with an Attached Stabilizing Brace” rule was issued in 2023. It reversed more than a decade of ATF guidance and exposed millions of Americans to potential criminal penalties if they didn’t surrender, destroy, or register their lawfully acquired firearms.
The rule was vacated in August 2024 following rulings by both the Fifth and Eighth Circuit Courts of Appeals. However, ATF acknowledged in March court filings that it “continues to enforce the regulation of short-barreled rifles against some brace-equipped pistols, even though the Rule has been universally vacated.”
Stabilizing braces attach to pistols and allow them to be braced against the forearm for improved control and stability. ATF initially determined in 2012 that using a stabilizing brace would not convert a pistol into a short-barreled rifle under the National Firearms Act.
Congressional Research Service estimates placed between 10 and 40 million pistol braces in circulation as of 2021. Current ownership rates are likely far higher. Only 0.6% to 8% of braced pistols were registered during the rule’s 120-day “amnesty” period.
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The senators argue the restrictions cannot pass constitutional muster under Supreme Court decisions in District of Columbia v. Heller and New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. They note that stabilizing braces make firearms safer by improving accuracy.
“Common, safety-improving modifications like pistol braces fall under the protection of the Second Amendment,” the letter states, quoting Fifth Circuit Judge Don Willett’s concurrence.
The letter demands ATF issue a public statement that it won’t take further enforcement action against braced pistols. The senators also want an interpretive rule clarifying that firearms with stabilizing braces don’t qualify as short-barreled rifles under federal law.
Additionally, they’re seeking a consent agreement through ongoing litigation that would permanently prevent ATF from reviving the Biden-era restrictions.
The letter was signed by Senators Bill Cassidy, Jim Justice, John Barrasso, Steve Daines, John Cornyn, and Mike Crapo, among others.
This enforcement action represents a continuation of the previous administration’s assault on lawfully owned firearms accessories. The senators’ intervention highlights how fundamental Second Amendment protections require constant vigilance against regulatory overreach, even when courts have already ruled against unconstitutional restrictions.