On Wednesday night the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) withdrew a proposed guidance that would have reclassified millions of AR-15 style pistols and other weapons with braces that stabilize a user’s wrist when firing, to short-barreled rifles, which are much more heavily regulated.
The guidance, posted on the Federal Register on Dec. 18, would have reconsidered pistols with stabilizing braces to be “short-barreled rifles” which are a controlled class of weapon under the National Firearms Act. The change would have required gun owners to either turn in their firearms or register their pistols as NFA firearms and pay a $200 tax stamp if the weapon is accepted. Failure to comply would have made the owners of previously legal pistols felons under the NFA.
The proposed ATF guidance would have required millions of gun owners to either turn in their guns or register them with the government, causing a national uproar from millions across the country.
In a notice announcing its decision to withdraw the proposed guidance and requests for public comment on the potential reclassification of these firearms, the ATF said, “Upon further consultation with the Department of Justice and the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, ATF is withdrawing, pending further Department of Justice review, the notice and request for comments entitled ‘Objective Factors for Classifying Weapons with ‘Stabilizing Braces’,’ that was published on December 18, 2020.”
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