Top Gun Rights Groups And Two Dozen States All Rush To Stop ATF Rule Against Pistol Braces

America’s largest gun rights advocacy groups are suing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF’s) new regulations on pistols with stabilizing braces. President Biden recently called these gun accessories “especially dangerous” weapons. 

On Thursday, the National Rifle Association (NRA) filed a federal lawsuit in North Dakota that argues the ATF’s new pistol brace rule is “arbitrary” and an “abuse of power,” according to Fox News. 

“The bureau is declaring that they will effectively decide on a case-by-case basis whether a firearm is subject to the NFA. Every American gun owner is in danger of potentially facing felony charges at the whim of these bureaucrats and without any new statute in place,” said Jason Ouimet, executive director, NRA Institute for Legislative Action. 

NRA is joined in the lawsuit by 25 states led by West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley, including Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming. 

Simultaneously, Gun Owners of America (GOA), the Gun Owners Foundation (GOF), and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the ATF on the pistol brace rule, according to Breitbart. 

GOA has told us that the ATF pistol brace rule ”could result in serious criminal charges for owners of up to 40 million guns if they do not register their braced firearms with ATF. “ 

Use the link below to help GOA and our Congressional 2A Champions fight the ATF https://t.co/hUdMB7aWvg

— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) February 9, 2023

GOA’s senior vice president, Erich Pratt, told Breitbart:

“Millions of Americans are facing a very tight deadline to destroy or register their lawfully owned property under this draconian new rule. We hope the court will hear the pleas of gun owners across the country who will be irrevocably harmed by this rule, and GOA stands ready to fight it at every turn.”

GOF’s Sam Paredes said: 

“This rule will have some of the most wide-reaching impacts nationwide in the tyrannical history of gun control. We the People will not tolerate this abuse.”

Paxton told Breitbart:

“This is yet another attempt by the Biden Administration to create a workaround to the U.S. Constitution and expand gun registration in America. There is absolutely no legal basis for ATF’s haphazard decision to try to change the long-standing classification for stabilizing braces, force registration on Americans, and then throw them in jail for ten years if they don’t quickly comply. This rule is dangerous and unconstitutional, and I’m hopeful that this lawsuit will ensure that it is never allowed to take effect.”

Here’s more from GOA on the lawsuit. 

So that’s two gun advocacy groups, the NRA and GOA, and a whole bunch of states countering the ATF pistol brace rule that affects millions of Americans.