ATF’s latest attack on how we’re allowed to configure stabilizer brace-equipped pistols comes at the expense not only of freedom, but of jobs and money, too. More than you might think. As in, tens of thousands of jobs and multiple billions of dollars in revenue.

Brace-equipped pistols have been among the hottest sellers in the firearm industry for the past eight years. Particularly over the last three or four years, if a company has been selling either concealed carry or a brace-equipped pistols, they have been selling ’em like crazy. If just one product out of a company’s dozen products is a brace-equipped pistol, it’s reasonable to believe it represents a third of that company’s revenue.

It’s easy to see why. Adding a stabilizing brace to a large-format pistol provides the aesthetic and physical balance that the otherwise front-heavy pistol lacks, while even more importantly improving control, safety, and accuracy.

I’ve spoken with a handful of industry companies this week, some of them retailers, some manufacturers. Some have built their entire business around pistol braces, some sell one or two braced pistols among a larger line of handguns, rifles, shotguns, and more.

 

CMMG Banshee pistol
Courtesy CMMG

In every case, the fear and confusion among distributors, retailers, and consumers has already impacted their sales. And not just sales of braces, mind you, but of the entire ecosystem of firearms and products that are built around braces. As a result of the ATF’s proposed “guidance,” these business owners aren’t only predicting substantial hits to their bottom lines, but many are already experiencing it. Some predict they won’t survive as a result.

All this after what has been a banner year for most in the firearm world. In fact, sales have been so strong for many companies that they were able to hire employees from other industries who had lost their jobs due to COVID-19 shutdowns.

Assembly, manufacturing, and other good jobs in the firearms industry have provided opportunities for restaurant workers and others who found their industries demolished due to the pandemic. Many firearm manufacturers are located in small towns, many in rural areas. In fact, a few of the companies I spoke with are in economic opportunity zones and a few are the largest employer in their county or region.

According to the NSSF — which, incidentally, has been frustratingly silent on this issue despite claiming to be “The Firearm Industry Trade Association” — in 2019 the firearm industry was responsible for over $60 billion in economic impact and 332,000 full-time-equivalent jobs. We don’t have numbers for 2020 yet, but we know it broke all previous records.

SB Tactical pistol stabilizing brace
Courtesy SB Tactical

Now, as a direct result of the ATF’s actions against stabilizing braces, the companies I spoke with predict, cumulatively, over $1 billion in lost sales if the agency’s proposed guidance is finalized in its current vague form. Heck, massive sales losses and purchase order cancellations have already happened. These proposed guidelines are so subjective and could be enforced so arbitrarily that just the prospect of it is scaring business away.

One of the largest manufacturers in the industry, employing a couple of thousand people, said braced pistols account for approximately half of their sales. Among the companies I heard from, the general consensus is a predicted revenue loss of 33% to 90%.

This, mind you, is just the direct effect on these companies themselves. When you factor in suppliers to these companies, whether it’s cardboard boxes or anodizing services or contract manufacturers or marketing firms or the deli around the corner, the downstream repercussions are even deeper and wider.

There will be monetary losses and there will be substantial layoffs as well. ATF could not have crafted its “objective” guidance in a better way to sew fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

In the midst of a pandemic, with the resulting record-setting economic hardship, ATF is now on the attack, harming a healthy market that was built on good faith and operating under guidelines previously established by the very same regulatory agency. It seeks once again to potentially make criminals of millions of well-intentioned, law-abiding citizens who followed every known guideline and law, only to find themselves years later in possible violation of ATF’s most recent change of heart.

The extraordinarily vague nature of these guidelines, should they become final, would mean no owner of a brace-equipped pistol could ever truly feel safe from ATF overreach and prosecution (persecution?). A “we know it when we see it” doctrine leaves no clear path for those who seek to follow the law.

Despite the fact that pistol braces are still legal and brace-equipped pistols are still legal, the confusion and fear generated by ATF’s proposed new guidelines alone is enough to negatively impact sales and production, causing the sort of negative effects on jobs and lives mentioned above.

Enough is enough. We start to fight back by making our voices heard. HERE are some ways to do just that.

P.S. — Everything above, though on a smaller scale, applies to the 80% receiver market as well, which is also currently under ATF attack.

 

95 COMMENTS

      • dopeski2…You and the other finger pointing nitwit are a contribution to the democRat Party. Nothing pleases the democRat Party more than seeing politically inept twerps hold hands and bash the POTUS. Over past 4 years I am sure there is more where that came from and it all adds up bit by bit and presto it’s joe biden at the helm. Perhaps joe and ho will teach you the meaning of showing respect and gratitude for.what you had. And when you learn what respect and gratitude are you can man-up and apologize to this forum for being a spoiled brat and useful idiot for the democRat Party..

        • They have a point. We turned out and voted for him in record numbers. He was never a gun guy, but it was one of his promises and talking points. We did not expect huge progress form him, but we did expect him to hold the line and he has not.

          Now the deep state communists are staging their coup and there is talk of prosecuting Trump after Sniffin joe and the Ho are crowned. We are going to fight the next part of this battle in the courts, and very likely in the streets. Trump could give us some parting shots at the enemy before he evacuates the oval orifice. But so far he isn’t. So far he doesn’t seem to notice or doesn’t seem to care.

        • Let’s see…Since when did Gun Control Racists and Nazis care about jobs and money for people they disdain? Did the Gun Control military wing of the democRat Party better known as the KKK worry about storming the shacks of Black Americans and searching for weapons? And if none were found and to send a message the shack was burned and helpless residents lynched or shot.

          Did the Nazi SS worry about Jews and their jobs and money? Apparently not when the orders were to confiscate weapons and round up unarmed Jews to fill concentration camps and gas chambers. The lucky ones were worked to death.The KKK and Nazi SS had their weapons and Blacks and Jews did not and the results define, “Gun Control.”

          Bottom line…The ATF needs to cut the chase and tell us which side of the fence they are on? The Gun Control racism and genocide side of the fence or the Freedom side of the fence.

        • And yet you defend a president that has the legal authority to hold them accountable and chooses not to.
          It’s clear which side you’ve chosen. It’s not America’s.

        • I have to agree. This has been brought to the attention of the White House (and DOJ) — directly to folks at the very top — over and over since at least June. Folks in the industry with Trump’s number have called him about this specific topic. It’s also my opinion that it simply hasn’t breached his top ten priorities list. Or whatever level of priority would be necessary for him to direct somebody to do something about it. I’ll choose to believe this is the case rather than assume he has been lying about support of the 2A. Obviously, however, it isn’t a priority for him so even if he believes he’s a 2A defender he clearly doesn’t care enough about it.

          That said, others do. Representatives at the top level of the Senate (including majority leader McConnell) are aware of this and are mounting resistance. Of this I have first-hand knowledge. FRAC is helping these senators.

          We need to continue to make our voices heard so the House and Senate both know how seriously we take this. All of the stuff here: https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/its-time-make-yourself-heard-re-atfs-latest-attack-on-pistol-braces

        • crimson clown…No surprise a nitwit like you would joined the brat pack. If you want perfection buy a Glock because you won’t find it in any POTUS. Considering not so long ago the POTUS was contributing to hilliary rotten clintoon, chuck schumer et al and was a resident of NY the POTUS has came around remarkably. After he saw the light he flushed the democRat Party and did an admirable job letting them know it…Find another POTUS who would do that.

          As for a “Gun Guy” compared to joe et al the POTUS is Rambo. Unfortunately morons like you would rather talk out yours butts and in doing so you add to the piles of democRat Party slander and libel. In other words moron…You are shooting yourself in the foot and shooting those who pull the wagon in the back.

        • I voted for Trump twice and did polling work so fuck off you twat.
          All he has to do is tell someone to fire the ATF leadership and it would be done.
          It would take less time than me typing the previous line.

        • Enjoy the globalist pedophile Beijing Biden! Joe will help offshore more American Jobs and the CCP will suck this country dry and move on. I don’t even believe he will make it through the four years so be prepared to have Kamalatoe for your President. Enjoy the new neocon wars and a boom for the military industrial complex. But oh no….orange man bad..orange man no do enough…cope some more.

        • I’ve been a big fan of the Trump presidency. Economic and foreign policies, in particular, have been freaking amazing in my opinion, as have been the deregulatory and red tape cutting practices. I probably speak for a lot of us on here with this sentiment. At the same time, he has fumbled the ball (or ignored it entirely) when it comes to 2A infringement, in both his words and his actions. Absolute, complete failure. All of these things can be true at once, and given the binary nature of a presidential election you can bet your ass nearly everyone on here would vote for him again tomorrow over an openly anti-gun opponent. The idea that we can’t be honest about our guy’s abject failings or that doing so means we prefer the other guy is idiotic.

        • LOL, Dumb Ol Debbie, here again! Never fails to fail 🙂

          I like how you didn’t address anything about the original point but instead just used the word ‘DeMoCrAt’ several times. I’m still surprised you’ve been able to figure out how to make the glowing box go to the wordy picture sites with such nuanced opinions tumbling out of your thick skull.

          So I’ll ask again – what did Trump do for our 2A rights again? I’m struggling to remember…other than ‘take guns first due process second,’ and ‘bump stocks banned.’

        • “So I’ll ask again – what did Trump do for our 2A rights again?”

          I’ll tell you, and I accept your apology in advance when you agree that I was right.

          3 new seats on the SCOTUS chosen by Trump, and not by Hillary :

          Scalia replaced by a Trump pick instead of Hillary.

          Kennedy replaced with Gorsuch instead of a pick by Hillary.

          Most important of all, Ruth Bader Ginsburg replaced by Amy Coney Barret, instead of Hillary.

          Are you going to seriously suggest 3 reliably ‘Progressive’ court picks by Hillary were going to be better than Trump’s picks vetted by the Federalist Society?

          That is what Trump has done for our 2A rights, moron…

        • Well, alternatively, we could organize 10,000 “protestors” to march on the ATF firearm branch in West Virginia. While we are there, we can loot all their guns and raze the gigantic building to the ground. Spray some ATF employees in the face with 10 gallons of bear spray, and line the outside of the “protest” with people with signs chanting “peaceful protest.”

          I’m actually fairly certain, it would work.

      • When was the last time the ATF had a director? The Trump admin proposed cutting the Justice Department budget in 2018. The ATF is part of the Justice Department now, not the Treasury Dept. I don’t think strengthening the ATF was a Trump priority, but they should have at least installed a decent director. If they’re going to exist, at least make the real criminals a priority.

        • This ATF is all Trump, all the time.

          “For Immediate Release
          Wednesday, January 22, 2020
          Contact: Public Affairs Division
          202-648-5500
          http://www.atf.gov
          ATF Acting Director Regina Lombardo Appointed by United States Attorney General William P. Barr to the Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice
          WASHINGTON — During a ceremony today in Washington, D.C., ATF Acting Director Regina Lombardo was appointed by Attorney General William P. Barr to the Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice. On Oct. 28, 2019, President Donald J. Trump signed Executive Order No. 13896, authorizing and designating the Attorney General to create such a Commission that would explore modern issues affecting law enforcement that most impact the ability of American policing to reduce crime. The launch of the Commission was announced at today’s ceremony as well.“

    • Could’ve done more for sure. So much for Don Jr being a gun guy.

      Judges are great, I think…

      Of course turning people into felons because they owned bumpstocks is problematic…doesn’t really align with the promise to never let us down…

      I voted for him twice. But imagine that, he turned his supporters into FELONS. And we swallowed hard anyway.

      • Don Jr absolutely is a gun guy. It’s my understanding that he is one of the people who have brought this very topic — ATF’s attack on pistol braces — to his dad’s attention repeatedly since earlier this year. As you may have noticed, his dad has a mind of his own and, to be fair, a lot of important things in need of urgent attention that occupy his mind. This should have been a priority, though. A strong reaction and stiff rebuke of the ATF this fall may have helped him in the election.

        • RE: “jwtaylor…And yet you defend a president that has the legal authority to hold them accountable and chooses not to.
          It’s clear which side you’ve chosen. It’s not America’s.”

          Are you a fly on the wall in the oval office? If not twerp then you can only speculate. At the moment the POTUS has his hands full dealing with monumental election fraud…Of course you having your ignorant head up your behind you musta missed it. Instead of being a gutless wonder wanting the POTUS to wipe crybaby snot off your nose you need to man up and talk to the ATF yourself like I did. If you cannot do that means you are not on the side of America. Now gfy.

        • Don Jr has brought this very topic to his dad’s attention repeatedly. As you may have noticed, his dad has a mind of his own and, to be fair, a lot of important things in need of urgent attention that occupy his mind. ,

          Sorry not buying it.
          If he already heard the details from Don Jr. then all the further time needed from Trump is saying “You’re Fired!”.
          All he has to do is tell someone to fire the ATF leadership and it would be done.
          It would take less time than me typing the previous line.
          NOBODY is that busy, even Trump.

        • Debbie, you’re right, he’s far too busy to protect the free exercise of our rights guaranteed under the Constitution. You’ve proven my point, and you’re just too stupid to realize it.
          He’ll only nut up and do the job he was hired to do if we demand it of him. Traitors like you would rather kiss his ass than stand up for America.

        • @Debbie, jwtaylor is absolutely correct. And was far closer to a fly on the wall in the oval office under this administration than you know. Trump has had this very issue on his plate since at least June if not earlier. He has been briefed on it repeatedly. It has never been important enough for him to attempt to do a single thing about it. I don’t like admitting this but it’s the truth.

          @doesky …you’re right that it cannot be chalked off as being too busy. But I’m right in what I said about DJT informing, warning, and directing the President on this attack against pistol braces as many others have. I know this for a fact. And that it has been happening since this spring when DOJ directed ATF to stop this crap based on Congressman Gaetz’s letter. Trump hasn’t cared enough to do anything about this. Period.

        • Jeremy, Trump can re-open the machine gun registry amnesty with the stroke of a pen.

          That would be a very nice ‘parting gift’ he could leave for the POTG.

          Could you put that bug in his ear, Mr. Taylor? Trump likes hitting back, and that’s a great way to do that… 🙂

    • I wonder what the percentage of people who actually strap the things to their arms is. I’d bet it’s pretty minuscule.

    • Justanother neme g for a completly unnessessary sub-machine gun, why not tell it has it is, These things have absolutely NOTHING to do with self protection and everything to dom with them continueing and childish [to the rest of the world[ American fascination with anything that goes bang- bang, The most effective firearm for self protection is one that is easy to use, does not result in overkill and collateral damage is reliable, easy to maintain and easy to use If I had to arm myslef for self protection withn aside arm it would be with nothing larger than a 9mm and the simpler the better. If it’s good enough for most of the worlds MILITARY and POLICE FORCES that’s recommendation enough for me. And for me a BROWNING HI-POWER that served them both for many decades and for which In trained and used for years in the UK military would suffice. Other than that S&W 38 known for it’s reliability would be perfectly OK . ALL the marketing bull goes right over my head. A 9mm kills you just as dead as a bloody magnum!!

      • You win stupid internet comment of the day. Lauding as enough gun the pistol most British military used to shoot (they switched to a Glock over a decade ago) and at the very same time dismissing the rifle all British military carry as useless.
        Spectacular. Congratulations.

  1. To the Left destroying jobs of the deplorables is a feature not a bug.
    The split can’t come fast enough.
    Hot or cold split I don’t care, which ever is sooner.

    • That plus, once a business / industry if gone, it’s really hard to return.

      Trump changed that, but on a large, high-capital scale. (Carrier, didn’t move to MX because of Trump, but is again considering it should Biden be successful)

      We keep cranking out nuclear subs for the USN…slowly…because if we don’t, the ability to do so will effectively be lost.

      The left’s mantra is PUNISH PUNISH PUNISH. If they have ANY fun in their lives, it’s likely punishing others.

      The left’s appetite (and the admin state) will NEVER be sated. Give them everything they ask for today, and they will think of something(s) tomorrow. Duh.

      eg: Duracoat or other fancy paint: makes a gun gunnier and more gun like to gun people down. Any gun with fancy paint, phosphate, or finish of any type needs to be banned. Guns with no finish are undetectable and need to be banned after than. Spray a gun with a clear finish make them invisible. Invisible guns are hereby banned.

      • “We keep cranking out nuclear subs for the USN…slowly…because if we don’t, the ability to do so will effectively be lost.”

        That’s why, to this day, the Air Force F-15 and Navy F-18 assembly lines are still running, at a reduced rate…

      • So you think the possession of lethal weapons who’s sole purpose it to overkill is bloody FUN?? No doubt being an American you also think it COOL. For self protection NOBODY NEEDS anything other than a .9mm What’s good enoughn for most of the worlds Military and Police Forces is recommendation enough for me And being an ex-veteran and ARMOURER the Royal Air Force and the UK Army I do actually know of which I speak I Do not, in the UK have any kind of need for a firearm for self protection. I may well if I lived in the uSA well consider it but would I need a blood disguised sub-machine gun?? I doubt it These are ASSAULT weapons NOT for self protection

        • Thats the kind of thinking that lead to Nazi rule.

          “you don’t NEED a semi auto to hunt or protect your house, you don’t NEED rifle ammo, you don’t NEED a pistol”

          It’s not the governments job to tell you what you need when it comes to defending yourself and your homeland, you don’t let your enemy dictate the rules of the game.

          Enjoy being buried in permits and paperwork, restrictions and laws, all while being no safer.

          You can take that euro follow the kings orders crap and pound sand back home with it.

        • You do not, in the UK, have the right of self defense according to your govt and legal system so of course you don’t need a firearm.

          p.s. Armourers don’t have a reputation for being firearms experts.

        • Allright Al, first off, our gun laws here in the USA should be no concern of yours. Being the Euro pussy that you seem to be, I think you actually do have plenty to fear from all the North African and other assorted scum of the earth that your wonderful government has seen fit to import. Remember, though, diversity is your strength. Oh and by the way, Your choice of a handgun model sucks. There have been many improvements to handguns in this modern age. Maybe if you lived in the USA you could experience shooting some of the more modern guns, but alas you live in a country that forbids you that experience. We kicked the shit out of you people and threw you out of our country once, so don’t bring your stupid uninformed views and try to foist them on a people who are still a lot more free and educated about guns than you are. I really don’t understand why you are so concerned about our laws over here concerning AR pistols.

        • An armorer who drops “.9mm?” I believe it… Piss off, we told you how much we cared about English opinion sometime around 1776

  2. “ATF Pistol Brace Crackdown Would Destroy Thousands of Jobs and Billions of Dollars”

    To mention nothing of the Constitutionality of a edict by a agency that lacks Constitutional authorization,in the first place.

  3. ATF Pistol Brace Crackdown Would Destroy Thousands of Jobs and Billions of Dollars

    As commenter doesky2 said above, that is exactly what Democrats desire. And here are their three foremost reasons:

    1) That result punishes and weakens a prominent Democrat political enemy — people who produce and own firearms (especially non-Fudd firearms).

    2) That result frequently pushes people to look to government for financial support which requires loyalty to government for continuing financial support.

    3) That result increases loyalty and support of longtime ardent Democrat voters and operatives.

  4. Remember that time the ATF crime family set up a for profit multi-million dollar enterprise (out of SW VA) so they didn’t have to ask Washington for money? Asking for permission is for chumps amirite? Whatever happened to that case anyway? Was anyone ever held accountable? Last I heard, one of the ATF agents was retired and collecting a government pension. Rules for thee…

  5. I’m sure they figure lost dollars and lost jobs just create more democrat voters.
    Gotta go after the jobs that pandemic hysteria hasn’t managed to kill.

  6. “ATF Pistol Brace Crackdown Would Destroy Thousands of Jobs and Billions of Dollars”

    Don’t tell Congress that or they’ll immediately increase the ATF’s budget.

    • Should you not wonder if this is what ATF is doing?

      Looking for budget increases by doing this now? “Look at us Creepy Joe!, we need more money so we can keep America safe!” Getting on the good side of the new regime by going after Braces?

      Why didn’t they do it before now? Cause Orange Man gone, that’s why.

      As far as “bump stocks” are concerned you can blame the media and Vegas. What did you expect any President to do?

      Spend political capital on ‘bump stocks’ ?

      • It’s one thing to not spend time and resources on a lost cause…and that’s debatable if bumpstocks were a lost cause.

        But he didn’t do that. He actively went after them. He directed a federal agency to drop the hammer on it, and they did.

      • You moron….. HE COULD’VE TOLD THEM TO GO FK THEMSELVES….. JUST LIKE THE COMMIE PEDOPHILES DO TO NORMAL PEOPLE EVERYDAY!!!
        BUMP STOCKS ARE SIMPLY A FIREARM ACCESSORY…. NOT A FKN GD MACHINE GUN… ONLY A BOOT LICKING RETARD WOULD DEFEND TRUMPS DECISION TO BAN THOSE!!!!

        And to that skank transgender DEBBIE W…… There’s only two people that need to GO FK THEMSELVES… YOU AND TRUMP YOU FILTHY WH0RE

  7. Interesting.

    You know when people talk about bumpstocks are just range toys, braces are stocks and cheat the system…

    How much of the increase in gun ownership in the last decade or so can be attributed to these things?

    Even the appearance of freedom is stimulating enough to nudge someone over.

    Govt can’t tolerate that, violates the spirit of the law…

  8. The NFA and the ATF should not exist in first place, but the ATF’s proposal that adjustability be considered as a disqualifying factor for a brace is particularly insulting. They argue that “all cripples are the same.” A 5’1 woman who lost three fingers in a construction accident and a 6’4 man who has limited mobility in his hands because of burns are not the same. And yes, those are real people I know who use the SB Tactical brace.

    • Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms should be a national chain of retail stores, not a .gov bureaucracy (YES!! I finally spelled that word correctly on the first try). All joking aside, it should at a minimum go back to being a tax collection department of the IRS and hand the law enforcement duties back over to the FBI. ATF has proven over and over and over (and over) with nearly no evidence to the contrary that it is HORRIBLE at law enforcement. From getting dozens of machine guns stolen from the trunks of their cars to setting up failed sting operations and entrapment schemes to Ruby Ridge and Waco and dead doggos everywhere to Fast & Furious to losing in court to oh-so-much more, it fails with the kind of consistency previously known only to gravity making objects fall.

        • Excise Taxes. Alcohol, tobacco, and Firearms are all subject to excise taxes, although a clear reading of Minneapolis Star Tribune Co. v. Commissioner would indicate that taxes on firearms are unconstitutional.

      • The FBI’s record isn’t that great. The FBI HRT were the ones responsible for shooting Vicki Weaver, who was unarmed and holding an infant. Texas Rangers recovered .308 cases from a FBI sniper position at Waco, and there was redacted testimony of shots being fired from that position when the compound was on fire.

      • “…it fails with the kind of consistency previously known only to gravity …”

        I fully intend to appropriate this and not give due credit for its use. Thank you

  9. Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

    — C.S. Lewis

  10. When pistol braces were declared legal by ATF edict did the upset people not realize that as easily as it was given it could/would be taken away? When this was declared legal to own and on top of it to shoulder, even though that wasn’t the purpose of a pistol brace, there was no one pissed off. Because we got what we wanted.

    Now it is being taken away. But it is not being taken away be some evil cabal of deep state actors. It’s being taken away in the same way it was given. A perfectly legitimate, legal way, that is not very difficult to understand if you grasp the way it was granted.

    So yeah, be upset. But for crying out loud do a little thinking. It helps sometimes instead of just raging.

    • Neither the way it was granted nor the way it’s being revoked are legitimate. Legal, probably…legitimate, no. I won’t be happy about any of this until the word “granted by…” can never be said of a government agency.

    • Point?

      Why does it matter? Because a barrel is two inches too short?

      Do you even understand the hypocrisy behind the ATF’s definition of what is and what is not a pistol? Or a rifle for that matter?

      I’ll put whatever the fuck I want on my rifle, and my pistol, and my fucking rocket launcher for that matter.

    • Wouldn’t matter if it were true. Wrenches are wrenches but if most people used them as makeshift hammers it wouldn’t make them hammers. If I used a wrench as a fishing weight it wouldn’t be a fishing weight, it would be a wrench being used as a fishing weight. They were designed to turn nuts and bolts so they’re wrenches no matter how you use them. Even if I go purchase a wrench with the intent to use it as a hammer, it’s still a wrench.

      Furthermore, f**k SBRs and the entire concept of them. We’re the only country in the world that regulates based on barrel length and it’s ridiculous. It’s the legacy of an 86-year-old law that makes little sense today; a law the sole purpose of which ATF explicitly states is to regulate “weapons likely to be used for criminal purposes” when crime data over the last century has shown us that long guns of any sort are used in fewer than about 3% of crimes and within that “short barreled rifles” (or braced pistols if you insist on categorizing them as SBRs) are a teeny, tiny fraction. They are, by all objective data and “following the science,” NOT weapons likely to be used for criminal purposes and we know this FOR A FACT. They do not belong in the purview of the NFA, period.

      • It was a relic of the original bill that also would have restricted handguns. Without handguns, the logical response is to shorten long guns to do the same job. When the handgun restrictions were removed, the restrictions on makeshift handguns should have been removed too.

  11. No job’s? No taxes? That’s a feature not a bug comrade. In Kamaltoe’s America we’ll feed off the gubmint trough-and like it😖😞😕

  12. Well the brace and bumpstock business have gone to hell, looks like we should have kept the tinker toy line in production.

  13. Looks like it’s time for someone to introduce the 80% pistol brace. That oughta fuck the ATF up — for a while, anyway.

  14. Since when had the Left given a shit about jobs? A fully employed populace is an anathema to the Left.

  15. I am convinced the only chance left to save the Republic is Revolution. It will be terrible, absolutely terrible. But it will never happen. Americans will instead surrender to slow death of communism. A few will fight the good fight. But not enough. Once an insurgency begins it will flounder. There wont be enough youthful strong men who will sacrifice their X Boxes for Ammo boxes.

    • Same goes with those employed in private agencies and the military. They will just follow orders and keep collecting the kings schillings.

      All we need is one state to start it. I say all like it’s a small thing… it’s a huge deal. But if it happens others will follow and that comfort zone bubble will leak slowly until it bursts. By then, if you are in an opposing state and you don’t want to be, it’s your own fault – and choice.

    • With all the surveillance now there could not be an organized militia. It would get shut down muy pronto. Every star watches us, every cell phone, cameras cameras everywhere, online sales, they just have to know. . How can we be free living under a microscope.

  16. I sense some wiggle room here for exaggeration. Tens of thousands of jobs? That’s a bit hard to believe. I’ve spent the last 15 years working for a very large company that makes a lot of lawn care, forestry, and landscaping equipment. I won’t name names here, but it was one of three big names in the industry for decades. This branch of the parent company only employed thousands, not tens of thousands. For that matter, the mother company only employs 13 thousand, worldwide. (I had to look it up)

    Those companies that stand to lose one line or another from their retail offerings can mostly switch off to something similar, and/or engineer a newer or different product. We’ve done it dozens of times. For that matter, the company has done so probably a few thousand times in it’s history. If you’re wondering, the company’s history is not quite twice as long as US history.

    I don’t want to make light of people losing their jobs, but let’s not exaggerate, alright?

    • It’s not an exaggeration. The projections among the companies I spoke with get us into the multiple thousands of jobs lost and I spoke with a small fraction of the industry. If your lawn care company were told that internal combustion engines were banned (or regulated to the point where demand dropped by 80%) starting three months from now and they projected laying off 1/3 of their workforce and you extrapolated that across your company’s competitors and peers, you’d understand what this brace regulation is meaning to the industry. I spoke to multiple companies who have already each lost $40MM or more in cancelled purchase orders. The sorts of numbers that are already happening just due to the specter of this regulation are sufficient to cause the loss of tens of thousands of industry jobs. An industry that, as mentioned in this article, employs approximately 330,000 FTEs as of last year, which was slow compared to this year. The affect of these rules is more than a 10% hit to the industry. Way more.

  17. As long as SBRs are, for some reason, still regulated along with suppressors etc (despite rifles and pistols both being legal) this problem won’t end. Would have been nice if someone had done something about that in 2016. Oh well.

    And many of the same manufacturers who are now apoplectic about this potential crackdown are the same ones that prompted it. Braces used to be a wink and nod in that they were carefully marketed for that intended purpose- as a pistol brace. But as soon as the wind shifted everyone went whole-hog on marketing them as unregulated SBRs in everything but name. What did they expect would happen?

  18. It’s d-bags on you tube like MAC constantly shouldering braces. Showing off latest NFA work around etc. Thanks to them folks that use the brace as intended are getting screwed.

    You tubers just had to throw it in ATFs face.

    • Yeah, that’s the problem. Kinda like those sluts wearing short skirts, they’re just asking for it!

  19. Here we go again, the industry invents a way to work around federal regulations and then uses the consumer to fight to protect their profits. Though at first the arm brace may have been intended to assist those with disabilities, it has morphed into a work-around for the SBR restrictions. The industry knew the BATFE would eventually take action. What did everyone think was going to happen? Did anyone really think this was going to be allowed to continue? You would have to be a moron to think so. There is no way to be a BATFE was going to let this continue. How about instead of fighting for a half-assed stock called an arm brace and the profit margins for the manufacturers, we fight to get rid of the asinine SBR restrictions. We cannot and will not prevail as we would like with the arm brace stocks. This has been proven by the ban on bump fire stocks. We need to abolish the oppressive regulations on SBR’s.

    • Won’t happen as people that own NFA items don’t want to see their $20k Uzi “investment” lose value overnight.

      • BS. There are less than 140k transferable machine gun owners since many own more than one. Let’s say 100k, so their influence in minor. Many have had their guns since the 1990s or earlier, when prices were still reasonable. They didn’t buy their Uzi for $20k, and they couldn’t afford to pay that for another one. It’s an unrealized profit because they would rather keep their gun than have the money. They would like to have the restrictions removed so they could have more machine guns. Sure, there are people who bought more recently solely as investments, but there are others that saved their nickels and dimes to buy their dream gun.

  20. Typical Conservative response.

    “You can’t do away with pistol braces because it will cost people jobs!”

    This is why and how we keep losing ground, we care, we think everyone else thinks like we do. We try to show people the human side of things, compassionate, caring, realistic.

    They don’t give two craps about peoples jobs or defenses or rights. A sob story about people being out of work isn’t going to pull on the Democratic heart strings and make them see the light.

    This is the equivalent of trying to talk to your bully to understand why he’s upset and maybe you guys will be best friends.

    BULL, KNOW WHAT WORKS?

    Punch that ignorant A-hole right in the mouth. NOW you’re friends.

    Force on force, its the ONLY thing that has worked for thousands of years and its the best solution today.

    Or you can keep begging for your rights, maybe just a few pieces so it feels like you have them….

  21. Next on the list: those shorty shotguns with the goofy grip.

    Did anybody with a clue actually not see this coming?

    You thought Trump was gonna rein in the ATF after illegally banning Bumpstocks?

    Wake up, the Uniparty cares not one bit about the rule of law.

    He who rules makes the law.

  22. Since Biden said the gun industry is the enemy, this seems more like a feature than a bug in his opinion. Unfortunately, this has started under the benign neglect of Trump, instead of the outright hostility of Biden. Even if Trump shut it down, Biden would start in up in a month and a half.

  23. This regulation is another of many infringements and doubtlessly, they’ll soon target another legitimate accessory. Some quarters already have banned bayonet lugs, barrel shrouds and combinations of two or more things. Democrats hope to bedevil and discourage new interest in the shooting sports or self protection.

    For example, radicals like O’Rourke and Swalwell might ban shooting gloves or require justification by proving the owner will shoot enough to heat the mechanism, use it in uncomfortably hot or cold weather or cause slide bite. They’re also sufficiently obsessed to consider chokes, muzzle brakes, flash suppressors, bipods, sandbags, optics, lasers and lights, holsters and bags that conceal contents (Sneaky Pete), attachment systems (RIS & RAS), extended magazines, speed loaders, spare magazine clamps, hunting blinds and so on.

    The time seems to have arrived when dealers, friends and customers must stand forcefully against government tormentors. If they use armed force to have their way, capable men and women must organize and if necessary, raise militia. Failure to defend against this new democrat face will cripple freedom and the republic itself. Never think that BATFE agents will hesitate to shoot armed violators of their edicts.

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