WASHINGTON, D.C. — NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, hails the bipartisan passage of H.J. Res. 44 in the House of Representatives as a clear statement to the Biden administration that it is the role of Congress to make law, not unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats. H.J. Res. 44 passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 219-210 and nullifies the Final Rule issued by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) titled “Factoring Criteria for Firearms With Attached ‘Stabilizing Braces,’” published on January 31, 2023. The Final Rule established new criteria for determining whether a pistol equipped with an attached stabilizing arm brace is a short-barreled rifle (SBR) and thus subject to regulation (and registration) under the National Firearms Act. The Congressional Research Service estimates there could be upwards of 40 million braces in circulation today.
“NSSF praises the bipartisan passage in the House of Representative of House Joint Resolution 44 to place a much-needed check on the Biden administration’s abuse of the rule making process to turn millions of lawful firearm owners and members of the firearm industry into criminals with the mere stroke of a pen,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “For nearly a decade the ATF has determined stabilizing brace equipped pistols, initially designed to assist wounded warrior veterans to shoot safely and accurately, did not alter the classification of a pistol and that those pistols would not be subject to National Firearms Act regulation. The antigun whims of this administration changed all that by executive fiat. Federal courts have already issued numerous preliminary injunctions against enforcing this rule and stated the Executive Branch was overstepping its constitutional authority and infringing on the role of the Legislative Branch to make law. NSSF is grateful to U.S. Reps. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) and Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) for drafting the resolution and to Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) for ushering through this resolution to passage. The firearm industry strongly encourages the U.S. Senate to make the correct and similar stand for Congress to reassert its role and authority in drafting law.”
After publishing the Final Rule on Jan. 31, 2023, ATF announced that in order to remain compliant with the new rule, any law-abiding gun owner who possessed stabilizing arm braces attached to lawfully-purchased pistols had 120 days, or until June 31, 2023, to either remove the pistol’s shorter barrel and attach a longer rifled barrel; permanently remove and dispose of the brace; turn in the brace; destroy the brace; or register it with ATF.
