➡ The ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) is proposing to remove a controversial rule about gun stabilizing braces, which had previously turned many lawful gun owners into potential criminals. This rule change, if finalized, would be a significant reversal of previous gun control measures. The ATF’s decision comes after numerous lawsuits and criticisms about the rule’s enforceability and legality. This could be a major victory for gun rights advocates and a significant change in federal gun control policy.
➡ The ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) has backtracked on a rule they previously insisted was necessary, admitting it caused confusion. This rule was seen as a threat to the Second Amendment, as it allowed the agency to create criminal standards without Congress changing or writing a law. The situation highlights the importance of the Constitution’s separation of powers and due process, and the danger of vague criminal standards. It’s a reminder that federal agencies should not have the power to reinterpret laws as they wish, and that constitutional rights are not negotiable.

All right, they finally published it. The ATF just made one of the biggest Second Amendment reversals we’ve seen in years. After millions of Americans were threatened with felony charges over pistol braces, after lawsuits exploded across the country, after federal courts repeatedly slammed the agency for overreach, the ATF is now officially proposing to remove the stabilizing brace factoring criteria rule from federal regulations entirely. That means the same agency that tried to turn millions of lawful gun owners into potential criminals is now admitting, without directly saying it, that the rule was legally indefensible and practically unenforceable.

What’s going on everybody? My name is Jared, and today we got some pretty big news out of Washington, DC that could signal the final death blow to one of the most controversial ATF rules in modern history. The ATF has officially published a proposed rule titled, Removing Factoring Criteria for Firearms with Attached Stabilizing Braces. And if this rule becomes final, which all signs point to that happening, it would formally rescind the Biden-era pistol brace rule that sparked nationwide outrage, lawsuits, injunctions, and total chaos… almost dropped my coffee… Almost total chaos across the firearms community.

Might as well drink if I smashed it. And patriots, this is huge, because this isn’t just some small technical update that’s buried in the Federal Register. This is the federal government effectively retreating from one of the largest executive branch gun control schemes we have ever seen in America. I’ll say this again, new ATF Director Robert Cicada and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche have made some very positive steps toward rescinding the attacks that the Biden ATF launched on our Second Amendment rights. I’m not saying we support ATF now. I’m saying good steps by a couple of guys who are gun guys, they’re in the industry, and they also have said the right things, but they’ve only been there for, you know, Cicada a couple days, Blanche a couple weeks.

And remember, for years the ATF told Americans that pistol braces were totally legal, even under Obama. Manufacturers got approval letters, products were sold openly, and millions of Americans bought braced pistols legally and in good faith. Then suddenly under the Biden administration, the ATF reversed course and essentially declared that many of those firearms were now short-barreled rifles under the National Firearms Act, and that meant registration requirements, potential felony exposure, federal prison time, and all of it happened without Congress ever passing a new law. And before we go further down this road, imagine this. You defend yourself in a life-threatening situation.

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Visit Attorneys on Retainer using my QR code floating somewhere here or the link down below in the description or the pinned comment, and learn about all of the benefits of a membership and sign up today with promo code GNG to save $50 off your one-time sign-up fee on your individual plan and $25 off your one-time sign-up fee for a family plan, and that’s a huge guy, so jump on that. Now the key point here is that Congress, when it comes to this rule, did not rewrite the definition of a rifle. Congress did not ban stabilizing braces.

The ATF attempted to reinterpret existing law through regulatory fiat, and that’s exactly why so many lawsuits were filed. Now before we get into the details of the new proposed rollback, let’s quickly revisit how we got here because the timeline matters. Stabilizing braces originally came onto the market as devices designed to help disabled shooters better control large format pistols. And for years, ATF’s classification letters repeatedly indicated that attaching a brace to a pistol did not automatically make it a short-barreled rifle, and millions of people relied on those determinations. Then in 2023, ATF final rule 2021 Romeo-08 Foxtrot changed everything.

The agency created a so-called factory and criteria system that looked at things like weight, length, optics, design features, rear surface area, suitable for shouldering, marketing materials, and how the firearm could potentially be used by someone. In other words, ATF created a subjective balancing test, and that balancing test gave the agency enormous discretion. They created an avenue to give themselves discretion, and they were the ones enforcing it. And gun owners immediately pointed out the obvious problem. Nobody could clearly tell what was legal anymore. And apparently, even the ATF now agrees with that criticism, because buried inside this newly proposed repeal are some stunning admissions.

The ATF acknowledges that the 2023 rule created confusion. The agency admits that individual gun owners struggled to apply the highly technical criteria. The proposal even states that the factors may have been over-inclusive or under-inclusive, and difficult to apply in particular cases. When you think about that, millions of Americans were threatened with felony prosecution. Under a rule, the government now says was confusing and difficult to apply. And plus, the ATF doesn’t get to make law. Rules are not laws. ATF’s not above Congress. So yeah, that was all insane. And it gets even worse for ATF here.

Federal courts absolutely hammered this rule. There were multiple injunctions issued. Courts found serious problems with the agency’s interpretation of the federal law, as well as their blatant violation of the way rules are supposed to be done. And according to the ATF’s own proposed repeal notice, several federal courts ruled that the brace rule violated the Administrative Procedure Act, and courts either enjoined state or vacated enforcement across multiple jurisdictions. And one of the major cases referenced is Firearms Regulatory Accountability Coalition, FRAC, versus Garland in the Eighth Circuit. The courts essentially told ATF that it cannot simply rewrite statutory definitions whenever it wants.

And that matters far beyond pistol braces, because this gets directly into the core constitutional issue surrounding the administrative state. Who writes laws in America? The answer, the only answer, is Congress, not unelected bureaucrats. The founders were crystal clear on this. Article 1 of the Constitution places legislative power in Congress, not in federal agencies that aren’t even approved under the Constitution. Not regulators, not unelected administrators. And what we witnessed with the brace rule was a perfect example of why the founders distrusted concentrated government power. It played out for all of us to see.

250 years ago, these guys all got together and could foretell what was going to happen. Millions of Americans woke up one day to discover that the federal government had effectively tried to change the rules after the fact. And many of those Americans had done absolutely nothing wrong. Now, here’s another major detail from the proposal that people need to understand. The ATF admits that because of the injunctions and the legal challenges, the agency never truly enforced the brace rule in the way it originally intended. The proposal specifically notes that, quote, for all intents and purposes, end quote, the 2023 rule was never actively enforced due to the litigation environment.

And that’s an astonishing statement from ATF. The federal government spent years threatening Americans over the issue, only to now admit that the rule became practically unenforceable. And this is why lawsuits really, really matter. This is why we support those who support us. The only reason they buckled was because the lawsuits made it happen. And every big group was involved. You name it, they were part of the lawsuit and they all scored injunctions too. And this is why organizations fighting these cases matter. Whether it was gun owners of America, Second Amendment Foundation, frac, FPC, NRA did too, or others, legal pressure forced the government to retreat.

This is exactly why constitutional litigation is so important, lawsuits, because once agencies realize that they may actually lose in court, suddenly they begin backing away from these overreaching policies. Now let’s talk about what this proposed repeal will actually do. If finalized, again, it looks like it’s going to happen. The ATF would formally rescind the regulatory language added during the Biden era brace crackdown. That means the agency would remove the factoring criteria framework from the federal regulations. The government is essentially returning to the previous interpretation framework that existed before the 2023 rule.

And according to reporting on the proposal, individuals would once again be able to purchase firearms equipped with stabilizing braces so long as the firearm is not designed or intended to be fired from the shoulder under the statutory definition. And remember the previous understanding of the rules surrounding pistol braces? ATF even said if people shouldered it, you know, every now and then it was fine. So going back to the original stuff. But let me be very, very clear here. This is still a proposed rule. It’s not a final rule yet. It will be.

There will be a public comment. In fact, it’s I believe it’s open right now because this was published today, a public comment process. And I’ll pin it down below for you in a pinned comment as well as in the description. And there could still be political interference here. Not that I think it will be successful, but always keep an eye out for this stuff. Future administrations could attempt a new regulatory attack as well. Keep that in mind. But politically and legally, it’s a massive retreat. And honestly, it’s difficult to overstate how embarrassing this is for ATF because the agency spent years investing and insisting that this rule was necessary.

They claimed it clarified confusion. They even claimed it enhanced public safety. But now the same agency is acknowledging that the rule itself caused confusion and everything they said before was just BS. And that’s a major reversal. And there’s another important lesson here for us all. The Second Amendment community cannot normalize executive branch lawmaking. Whether you support braces or not, it does not matter. It’s almost besides the point. The real issue is whether federal agencies can invent criminal standards through regulation without Congress actually changing or writing a law. Because if they can do that here, they can do it elsewhere.

And that’s why so many Americans saw this brace rule as a dangerous precedent. Yes, there were many people said, I don’t care about the brace rule. You’re just trying to skirt NFA and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It doesn’t matter what your belief is. The Constitution is the Constitution. Feelings aside, what they did was unconstitutional and they got jammed for it. Today, it’s braces tomorrow could be triggers or receivers or optics, accessories, parts, kits, magazines, anything you name it. Once agencies claim the power to reinterpret statutes however they want, there’s no limiting principle anymore.

And we’re due for a reset. And that’s why the Constitution’s separation of powers absolutely matters. That’s why due process absolutely matters. And that’s why vague criminal standards are very dangerous. Americans should not need a team of attorneys to determine whether they are committing a felony. Now here’s what I want to know from you all out there. Do you believe the ATF ever had the legal authority to issue the pistol brace rule in the first place? I know what I think. I know what you should think, but I want to hear from you.

Or do you think this entire situation proves that the agency massively overstepped its authority? Sound off below in the comments. And if you appreciate real Second Amendment reporting without the corporate media spin, make sure you subscribe to the channel and hit the notification bell because the fights are far from over. P.S., public service announcement. If I get a lot of people that’ll say, Jared, is this true? And they’ll send me a link. And it’s always an AI channel saying that the Supreme Court just nined a nothing unanimous decision that, you know, and this one that I got today was that concealed carry permits are no longer needed.

And we have national reciprocity. No, don’t fall for the BS. Don’t fall for AI channels. They’re full of shit. If you don’t hear it from me or G.O.A. or, you know, you know who you would hear the real news from, then it didn’t happen. All right. So save your time and energy for what it’s actually needed for. The administrative state does not willingly surrender power, guys and gals. And every time gun owners push back successfully, it sends a message that constitutional rights are not negotiable. As always, I will keep watching this story and bring you any updates as soon as they happen.

And until next time, stay safe, stay armed, and stay free. I’ll see you in the next one. Take care. [tr:trw].

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