09/01/2021
Friends of SIG,
We need your help to fight back against the recent rule proposed by the Bureau of Alcohol, To***co, and Fi****ms (BATF) on stabilizing braces. These braces were first authorized as a device that would not create a rifle when attached to a pistol in November of 2012. Braces received broad acceptance as they made many pistols easier and safer to manage, especially for the disabled.
Following guidance periodically issued by ATF over almost 10 years, US citizens bought millions of braces and braced pistols. If adopted, the factoring criteria in the proposed rule will classify the vast majority of these millions of braced pistols as short-barreled rifles (SBRs), leaving otherwise law-abiding citizens with the options of either: registering under the NFA, paying the $200 tax, and accepting the limitations placed on SBRs; altering, destroying, or surrendering their braced fi****ms; or becoming a felon.
This is just the beginning - - it is yet another attempt to create a problem where there is none - - at the expense of law-abiding fi****ms owners.
Help us fight unnecessary bureaucracy and submit your comments today by following these simple steps. All submissions must be received by BATF September 8th – but don’t wait – make sure your voice is heard today!
We’ve made it easy, submit your comments in these easy steps:
1. Visit regulations.gov using this hyperlink
2. Click the “Comment” button on the "Proposed Rule"
3. Cut and paste the following text in the comment section:
ATF authorized the first pistol brace products almost ten years ago. These products provide an attachment to pistols that distributes weight of the pistol to the forearm and were designed to help disabled persons control and safely shoot brace-equipped pistols.
Guidance regarding the legality of braces and their features has been issued by ATF over the last 10 years. This guidance seemed to attempt to balance the needs of disabled persons with ATF’s desire to prevent the brace from being used as a stock, which in ATF’s view makes the braced device a rifle subject to the National Fi****ms Act, including its rules on transfer, the imposition of a $200 transfer tax, and restrictions on transport and possession.
These proposed rules utterly disrupt this balance and fly in the face of the purpose for which the brace was designed and sold. The proposed rules are highly restrictive and would cause the vast majority of the millions of braced pistols in the hands of US citizens to be reclassified as NFA items. This reclassification would impose incredible costs on US citizens who have purchased braces and braced products in the last ten years and significantly limit the future availability of these devices to the disabled community.
Worse is that the rule’s point criteria used to evaluate braced pistols to determine if they are pistols or NFA items penalize fi****ms with features that are useful to the disabled and have nothing to do with whether the brace acts as a stock. Examples include restrictions on the minimum and maximum weights of braced fi****ms, and brace adjustability and attachment methods. Moreover, ATF ignores the benefits of features that are clearly beneficial to the disabled community, and instead based on unsupported conjecture proposes rules that these features (such as adjustability) define the brace as a stock, denying beneficial features and making the device less effective or unavailable to the disabled community.
ATF is prohibited from making such discriminatory rules under The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Section 504 states that “no… individual with a disability… shall be excluded from, denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any activity that… is conducted by any Executive agency.” Here ATF’s rulemaking discriminates against disabled persons by arbitrarily limiting design characteristics that enhance the effectiveness of the brace design for the disabled person and for no discernible purpose.
The balance that previously existed in ATF’s pistol brace guidance and rulemaking has been lost. We urge ATF to reconsider the proposed rule in order to make appropriate accommodations for the disabled, as originally intended and required by statute.
4. Enter your e-mail address (scroll down)
5. Fill out the “Tell us about yourself” section
6. Hit submit
Thank you for your participation!
