Shenandoah Valley News

U.S. Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA) joins those celebrating as the House narrowly approved HJRes44 which blocks the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) requirement to register all guns with attached stabilizing braces.

"The ATF’s pistol brace rule is an attempt to turn law-abiding Americans into felons with a stroke of a pen," the congressman said on Twitter. "That is why Congress must pass @Rep_Clyde ’s bill to block this rule and defend Americans’ Second Amendment rights."

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) passed a rule in January of 2023 that would require pistols with stabilizing braces to be registered as short barrel rifles, a heavily regulated form of firearm, the Washington Examiner reported. This is one of many gun regulations that came out of the Biden Administration after a 2021 mass shooting event. When it was finalized by the ATF on January 31st, they gave a deadline of May 31st for all gun owners who had a pistol with such a brace to register their firearm, which is not required for pistols, the story said. If they did not, they could face up to 10 years in prison or a $10,000 fine with the felony charge.

There was huge backlash on this legislation, with many firearms groups and Republican legislators calling the rule unconstitutional and an infringement of citizens’ rights, Fox News reported. Many also cited the number of veterans or those with disabilities who use such additions to be able to use their firearms. The Biden Administration claimed such braces were too dangerous and too often used in mass shootings to continue unregulated. The bill faced a lot of opposition and blocks along the way, with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals blocking the rule in May, Fox said.

The ATF published the rule, saying it had amended the definition of a rifle to say “that the term 'designed, redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder' includes a weapon that is equipped with an accessory, component, or other rearward attachment (e.g., a 'stabilizing brace') that provides surface area that allows the weapon to be fired from the shoulder, provided other factors, as listed in the definition, indicate the weapon is designed and intended to be fired from the shoulder.”

The agency said that other braces meant to aid in disability use would not fall under this category as U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) introduced H.J.Res.44 in March as legislation to oppose and counteract the ATF’s rule. The resolution “nullifies the rule issued by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives titled Factoring Criteria for Firearms With Attached ‘Stabilizing Braces.’” The resolution passed as a joint bill in the House on June 13, with a vote of 219-210 in favor.

 "@HouseGOP  just passed a bill to overturn the ATF’s tyrannical policy that would target Americans – specifically service-disabled Veterans – who rely on pistol stabilizing braces," Cline tweeted after the vote. "We’ll continue our fight to stop the Admin from trampling Americans’ right to keep & bear arms."