The Biden administration has lost a big battle for Second Amendment rights. Their ban on pistol braces was thrown out nationwide. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ previous ruling had granted the plaintiffs relief, but everyone was still at risk of committing a felony if they held onto their pistol braces.
The U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmarky from Texas issued the nationwide injunction. This decision saves millions of people from having to destroy all their pistol braces or guns altogether.
A federal judge in Texas has temporarily lifted the ban on pistol braces that was enacted by the Biden administration. The injunction prevents the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) from implementing it.
U.S. district judge Matthew Kacsmaryk decided on Wednesday that unelected bureaucrats trying to legislate through regulation, instead of enforcing gun laws already in place, were illegal and must stop immediately, as is the case with pistol braces.
ATF’s rule was enacted in the United States earlier this year and sought to punish and fine those estimated 40 million pistol brace owners who refused to either reclassify the firearms as short-barreled rifles (which require government registration and a tax stamp of $200) or destroy the brace. Gun owners in 21 states that have banned SBRs had to decide whether to surrender their firearms or destroy their pistol brace-equipped firearms.
The question is whether ATF can unilaterally change gun laws, without the input of Congress, just because a President tells them so. The pistol brace is a useful tool for people with disabilities, but it’s also a way for law-abiding gun owners to legally own guns with shorter barrels and not have to register them as SBRs. The National Firearms Act requires a 16-inch length barrel without the use of a pistol brace, or SBR registration. Both are illegal.
The ban was implemented after a mass shootout in which a weapon with a pistol brace was used. The ban was a purely emotional move by the Biden Administration to “do something.” No mass shooter will be discouraged by the fact that they cannot get a weapon with a pistol brace. It would also be easy to make one illegally since it is just a piece of plastic. No matter how they are made, guns are still deadly. Banning firearms based on their use in high-profile incidents is a waste of time and money.
It is a big win for the Second Amendment because it stops ATF in its tracks. It is clear that the bureaucracy if it had gotten away with its gambit, would have continued to encroach on gun rights. Making pistol braces unlawful has not and will not stop gun violence. This was a power play by politicians who refused to address the real issue of mental health. Currently, handguns are used in almost all shootings. There is no real evidence to support the focus on AR-15 configurations.
