Countdown Begins: ATF Will Consider You a Criminal If You Don’t Register, Surrender, Alter or Destroy This Firearm

President Joe Biden’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives might have made millions of law-abiding Americans into felons overnight. On Friday, Attorney General Merrick Garland signed off on a new ATF rule that restricts the use of stabilizing braces on firearms. The whopping 293-page rule redefines firearms that make use of the braces as short-barreled rifles. A stabilizing brace is an attachment designed to allow a long gun to be fired with one hand. The tools resemble the conventional stock of a rifle in some respects but differ in that they’re designed for long guns (such as AR-style weapons) that are actually pistols. Under the new rule, owners of many firearms that use the braces have to register the guns with the federal government within 120 days, a requirement for short-barreled rifles under the National Firearms Act of 1934. Gun owners who suddenly became the possessors of a short-barreled rifle in the eyes of the government also have the options of altering the firearms to comply with the rule, surrendering them at an ATF office or destroying them. The ATF is providing the public with the grace of 120 days to obey the new arbitrary rule. That’s if the violators even realize they violated federal gun law overnight.

ATF rule by The Western Journal

There are 10 million to 40 million firearms in circulation in the United States that the ATF just redefined as short-barreled rifles, according to The Reload. The federal government has no credible way to adequately inform pistol brace owners that they’re about to become criminals. Chances are some of them will find out during a trip to a local shooting range or in a courtroom, where they could stand to lose their gun rights permanently because the ATF changed the rules. Owning an NFA item without a federal tax stamp can land you 10 years in federal prison. There’s nothing that makes a stabilizing brace a uniquely dangerous firearm attachment, by the way. They have neither law enforcement nor military use. These are range toys you’re more likely to find in a peaceful gun owner’s safe than a combat zone. One common use of these braces? Assisting people with disabilities who can’t fire guns the way they’re designed to be shot.

Americans with Disabilities Act. they’re basically discriminating against people who have disabilities and need a stabilizing brace.

— Darkpriest667 (@Darkpriest667) January 13, 2023

A draft version of the brace ban was met with opposition from Republican senators. It’s likely the new administrative ban will face legal challenges. This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.