SB Tactical pistol brace arm
Courtesy SB Tactical

Millions of peaceable Americans lawfully acquired and lawfully own stabilizing braces and braced pistols. The proposed rule is coldly indifferent about the prospect of turning thousands or millions of those Americans into unwitting felons. This sort of abusive regulatory action must be regarded as wholly unacceptable within a free and democratic republic.

NFA penalties are extremely severe, including up to a decade of prison time, massive fines, and the loss of rights that accompanies a felony conviction. It is outrageous to alter rules such that those penalties would threaten ordinary, peaceable Americans, many of whom will be unaware that any rule change affecting them has even taken place — they may become aware at the time that they are arrested.

Furthermore, it is entirely reasonable for brace-owning Americans to assume that they have done nothing illegal or noncompliant. Most gun owners who bought a firearm equipped with a brace even completed an ATF 4473 form for that firearm. They did everything “by the book,” hid nothing, and have every reason to believe that they were, are, and will continue to be in full compliance with the law so long as they commit no criminal acts. The proposed rule change would cruelly pull the proverbial rug out from under them by making them felons on account of their lawful acquisitions.

Even those Americans who are fully aware of the rule change would be put in the position of needing to figure out if the ATF has decided that they are felons. And for these Americans to make that determination, they will need to start by literally weighing and measuring their lawfully-purchased guns. As comically absurd as that sounds, it is precisely what would be required by Worksheet 4999. In reality, there is nothing comical about this — it would be a disturbing state of affairs to observe in an ostensibly free country.

The ATF’s “Options for Affected Persons” are paltry and unsatisfying. Broadly speaking, all of these options amount to uncompensated “takings,” in the legal sense of the term: individuals would lose the utility of their braced pistols through some combination of mandatory separation, destruction, and/or surrender of braces and/or pistols. Braces and firearms are not inexpensive items, and insofar as they function as personal protection tools, they have an especially valuable function within one’s household. Again, the ATF’s cold indifference toward those upon whom the rule would be enforced is evident here.

The Americans who would be made felons by this rule change have committed no crime. They would simply find themselves to be in possession of an item that was declared — outside of our democratic lawmaking process — to be contraband.

That is not a case of citizens violating the law. Rather, it is a matter of the law violating citizens — and that is an intolerable state of governance.

— Mark Houser in Comment on ATF’s Proposed Rule 2021R-08 “Factoring Criteria for Firearms With Attached ‘Stabilizing Braces’”

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42 COMMENTS

  1. Well I’m not giving up what I got and ten years is to long. I’d die doing ten years locked up, so what the hell.
    Sometimes a long prison sentence works in reverse.

  2. It’s a political directive, like Trump’s bumpstock ban. Comment so they can be used in court later. If that doesn’t work then nullification in certain jurisdictions will be useful. If that doesn’t work then those jurisdictions need to give teeth to their nullification and meet force with force in protecting the citizens from the regime.

      • As if they wouldn’t be doing this without Trump. Yeah right. Precedent and unity are only talking points as far as this administration is concerned. They don’t care about either one.

      • The Politically inept nitwits that won’t quit crying over bumbstock contraptions obviously do not realize how much they contributed to the democRat Party, gun control, Biden/Harris, etc. Such nitwits run around regurgitating what other nitwits pooped in their ears. What they didn’t hear from their fellow nitwits with thousands of incomplete sentence posts was if POTUS
        DJT did nothing Congress would have and that meant no more products along the lines of the Binary Triggers seen advertised on this forum, etc. Now if any of you crybabies have questions you can contact Allen Gottlibe or you can stfu.

    • Trying to explain to a pig why rolling in mud is dirty and should be avoided.
      The pig doesn’t care, he enjoys it.

    • “Comments change nothing. Talking will not stop them. Wake up.”

      Really?

      Explain how surplus green-tip ammo is still legal?

      They *were* going to outlaw it, but a massive flood of comments caused them to drop it…

    • That’s it, dummy up and don’t say a word……….that’s the solution!
      There are far more not talking than talking, is their silence really working?

      • I’m glad in 2021 that our Founders didn’t dummy up against the oppressive Brits back in the 1770s. They stood to lose everything if they were caught or if the revolution failed. And they gave we, the ungrateful people two hundred years later a nation where it is still possible to speak up and make a difference.

        Address your comments to ATF, send a copy to your US Senators, and stop blaming someone else for the position in which we find ourselves today. The only blame that can really be placed is directly at the American people, who have gotten complacent, fat and lazy over the decades. The number of voting Americans is pathetic as is the general knowledge of both issues and a candidate’s stance, as well as his/her/its past history on the issues.

        If you get a chance to air grievances, do so. Or stop all the online and other bitching.

        https://youtu.be/wX3hRj6XoUM
        https://youtu.be/0OHH49vtl2g

        • What All of you are failing to realize can be summed up in one word.

          TRUST.

          It doesn’t matter what we ask of them, what we tell them to do, what we want them to do, what we vote for. They’re going to do what they’re going to do anyways. You’re trusting that your comments are of any value. You’re trusting a government agency to give a fuck about you. Trust. The dumbest stance throughout history.

          Come and fucking take them.

        • I’m not so sure anybody here is actually trusting the ATF to do the right thing. They might, maybe…it has happened once or twice…so we should do everything we can to maximize that chance.

          And even if it does boil down to a “molon labe” situation — especially then — it’s important that we make a public case for disobedience being the right and just response.

  4. Burn, loot or murder and you get no-bail release in the name of equity.
    Commit a bureaucratic crime of not filling out the right forms and paying the right tax and it’s 10 years in federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison for you.

    One group occupies a federal building for days, sets fire to court houses and tracks down politicians in their homes to harass them and they’re peacefully protesting while another group puts feet on a desk and steals a podium and it’s an insurrection worse than 9/11, slavery and the Holocaust together but still not as bad as COVID.

    Pretty sure the .gov has lost all credibility at this point and should simply be ignored for the fool it is.

    • “Pretty sure the .gov has lost all credibility at this point and should simply be ignored for the fool it is.”

      Nice idea, but the cold reality is, ignore it at your peril… 🙁

    • “…be ignored for the fool tool it is.”

      The DNC faithful have increasingly weaponized the government Agencies (FBI, BATFE, IRS, SSA, VA…ad infinitum) that are supposed to be non-political and that are supposed to serve all citizens and lawfully admitted aliens in the United States. This weaponization serves to solidify their stranglehold on any Rights [sic] they, in their infinite wisdom, think we should be allowed…at least for the time being.

    • Yeah … problems arise, however, when the fool chooses to not ignore you.

    • “One group occupies a federal building for days, sets fire to court houses and tracks down politicians in their homes”

      Are you talking about the Bundys occupying the buildings at the federally protected wildlife reserve?

      And please remind me again, which courthouses were set on fire?

      And I agree, armed protesters at anyone’s home is bad and intentional intimidations that should not be permitted.

      “Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said dozens of armed protesters gathered in a threatening manner outside her home on Saturday evening chanting “bogus” claims about electoral fraud.“

  5. It is important to look at the ATF actions as a component of a more comprehensive plan: disarm the citizenry.

    The Biden administration has identified domestic terrorism (specifically white supremacy) as the number one threat this country faces. Although gun ownership crosses all races in the USA, it looks like Biden and ilk think white people are the biggest threat to them. I have news for them: disgust with Biden and his horde of demons is shared across our wonderfully diverse and well-integrated country.

    https://dailycaller.com/2021/06/15/merrick-garland-joe-biden-biden-administration/

    • Of course the thing they have identified as the greatest threat facing “the country” (The Party) are the people that don’t vote for them. We all know they’re using the white supremacy nonsense as a cover, but how are that many people fooled by it?

      Remember how they sold Merrick Garland as some super moderate? Imagine him being on the Supreme Court.

    • Hordes of demons? How interesting your mental landscape must be…

      Regarding domestic terrorism, I believe the justice department is doing a pretty good job rounding up a large group of organized domestic terrorists who attacked our United States Capitol during a joint session of Congress in order to interrupt the constitutionally-mandated process of certifying our presidential election.

      And most of America is in complete agreement with this crackdown, just look at how many family, friends and neighbors are dropping a dime on the domestic terrorists and notifying the authorities of the insurrectionists’ location.

      From the link you shared:
      “Since the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the Biden administration has committed to investigating domestic threats to the homeland and the Department of Justice has arrested over 480 individuals and has brought hundreds of charges against suspects.“

    • Good, now the ATF can give a free pass to disabled vets, as long as you can prove you are disabled and a vet you can have a brace. everyone else, piss off….

  8. If the intent was for criminals to have easy access to high power short barrel rifles to use for their nefarious crimes, pistol braces weren’t needed because one could easily get stocks for cheap prices and short barrels, or cut a barrel down, if one wanted to. A true stock is better than a brace and looks better too, so braces weren’t really needed if someone was willing to violate the existing laws to get an SBR.

    People were willing to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for braced pistols (and usually with background checks either as a complete braced weapon or for the pistol or stripped receiver) because they wanted to be in compliance. If anything the fact that millions of people lawfully acquired braces and aren’t killing people should be proof that they are not a threat.

    This doesn’t seem to be much different than the bump stock ban. If courts decide against one of these ATF flip flops then they should for the other, and unfortunately, if they allow for one, then it would be harder to argue against the other.

  10. Asking for a friend…..

    Are comments to ATF a stealth gun registry? Or, at least, a gun owner registry? Or a government enemies list? Or a “potential domestic bad person” list. An IRS strike list? Or ATF strike list?

    Also, my friend notes that the ATF can decide that comments are merely bots launched by ten people, and justify ignoring “public comments”.

  11. I’ve sent my letter, made the phone calls and have dutifully complied with the Law. I agree, that this rule change is Unconstitutional, just as the Bump Stock Ban was, and as all other arbitrary and capricious rule changes have been. The Constitution does not grant the Executive, the DOJ or the ATF the power to change the Law. Thus, anytime they do so, it’s illegally done. Our corrupted Judiciary blithely plays along and ignores the overreach of power.

    My point is, I’ve no intention of complying with this Illegal Action. At this point, if this law is implemented, I may as well slap a regular Buffer tube and Stock on my AR pistol, because either way, they’ll attempt to confiscate, charge and imprison me, so I might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb.

    I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, I’m 60, in declining health due to a degenerative disease, with an end that will be protracted, extremely painful, and miserable in extremis. Dying in a hail of gunfire looks pretty good in comparison.
    Thus I vow to take as many of the Geheime Staatspolizei with me as I can, and I’ve no illusions of surviving the battle.

    I would rather die in a mound of spent brass than bow to the Tyranny and Authoritarianism of an Illegitimate and Corrupt Regime.

  12. If this comes to pass, may as well ditch the braces and put real stocks on – everything is going to be illegal anyway, may as well use the best tools to fight back. In case that’s not clear, what I’m saying is shoot them.

  13. Laws only work if they are fallowed by the majority, if they are respected.. the governments power comes from the citizens respecting and fallowing it.. Government agency only can do what the people allow.. it’s time that the people take the power back.. there should be no federal gun laws.. gun laws should be decided by states and I don’t mean the political structure but voted on by the people of the state.. why is it the opinion of people who buy and cheat there way into power have the ultimate say in our life’s.. they forget we put them in the place of power.. if a law or a rule change comes into play it should be voted on by us the people it will affect..The gun laws we have no are worthless..And it’s funny to me to see people who support the no felony should own a gun law sit here and say I don’t care I’m going to keep what I bought 😂 when in doing so makes you a felon 😂.. I would like to knw if your out looks on that law will change if you get a felony.. but back to my main point we need to stand as one and tell the federal government who shouldn’t even exist except for matters abroad that we the people no loner give them the power or Authority to pass put in place or in force laws that we the people as a majority disagree with.. we have the power we choose to fallow blindly behind a bunch of crooked pedophile self serving politics.. who make laws to there liking who allow the rich to pay to have laws fit there opinion.. please stand up Americans and abolish the federal right to make pass and in force laws on American soil…

  14. Josue, you said, “gun laws should be decided by states and I don’t mean the political structure but voted on by the people of the state.”

    No, because then every place ends up with gun laws like New Jersey, California, New York, or even worse, such as a total gun ban.

    Basic, God-given civil rights simply CANNOT be allowed to be voted down. That is the “tyranny of the majority” that the Founding Fathers worried about, and that is precisely why they wrote the Bill of Rights, listing certain God-given rights as inalienable. If you allow voters to vote away basic civil rights, then the ongoing MSM propaganda campaign against guns will cause gullible voters in most states in America to simply vote to ban all guns, period! If voters are allowed to vote against civil rights, then the Californication of America will become even worse.

    The Bill of Rights means that not just the Federal government, but the states, are not allowed to decide (based on majority vote) to ban freedom of speech, or of religion, or of self-defense. If you allow rights to be “decided by states and I don’t mean the political structure but voted on by the people of the state”, then what happens if 51% of voters in some state vote to make Judaism illegal, round up the Jews, and send them to concentration camps? That is what happens when civil rights are “voted on” rather than being enforced by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. If states are allowed to vote on gun laws, many states will vote to ban guns and lock up all gun owners, because we gun owners are a minority.

    • “Basic, God-given civil rights simply CANNOT be allowed to be voted down.”

      Oh, but they can. The founders declared certain natural, human and civil rights to be “unalienable”, yet the Constitution itself contains the very tool for eliminating those rights, in the practical sense. The Constitution seeks to be enforced by the Supreme Court (which has no enforcement capability to speak of) declaring that certain acts of Congress offend the Constitution, and are thereby null and void. However, nowhere in the Constitution is there any provision prohibiting an amendment to alter any provision in the Constitution. A conundrum.

      Just like the conundrum of elected representatives: Must a representative of the people vote to represent the majority of voters, or does the representative vote only their conscience? Or vote some combination of the two considerations? Franklin’s challenge was not a rhetorical device.

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