A rule proposed by the Biden administration, aiming to classify braced pistols as short-barrelled rifles, has been halted by a federal court. The Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) initiated legal proceedings against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in January, objecting to a newly introduced regulation that would require pistol brace owners to register their firearms as short-barrelled rifles. Non-compliance could result in a penalty of up to 10 years imprisonment and a fine of $10,000. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a temporary injunction, which effectively suspends the rule for the plaintiffs involved in the lawsuit, while the appeal is being considered.
According to The Daily Caller:
FPC says it is seeking clarification from the court on exactly who the injunction covers. Former George W. Bush appointee Judge Catharina Haynes and former President Donald Trump appointees Judge Kurt Engelhardt and Judge Andrew Oldham issued the injunction.
The rule redefines “rifle” as any weapon “designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder.” To be in compliance with the new rule, owners of braced pistols must either adjust the barrel so it is longer than 16 inches, file a form and pay a $200 tax to make the firearm a SBR, remove the brace, or surrender or destroy the firearm.
“I mean, realistically, if you don’t register your gun with them in a certain timeframe and pay the $200 tax, you have to either destroy the gun, turn it in, or convert it somehow with a different barrel,” Second Amendment Foundation founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The injunction comes shortly before the 120 day period provided for owners to bring their firearms into compliance with the rule was set to expire.
The Biden administration has continued to take the ATF down a far-left path. It will be up to states and courts to make the ATF doesn’t abuse their power.
