GOP Senators Push to ‘Stop the ATF’s Pistol Brace Rule in Its Tracks’

Sens. Roger Marshall (R-KS) and John Kennedy (R-LA) are pushing legislation to end the National Firearms Act’s registration and regulation purview over short-barreled rifles, thereby eliminating the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF’s) pistol brace rule.

The legislation, titled Stop Harassing Owners of Rifles Today (SHORT) Act, was introduced on Tuesday.

The Daily Caller noted that the SHORT Act would “remove the taxation, registration and regulation in the National Firearms Act (NFA) for firearms such as Short-Barreled Rifles (SBR), Short-Barreled Shotguns (SBS) and Any Other Weapons (AOW).”

In comments prior to introducing the SHORT Act, Sen. Marshall commented on the ATF’s registration push for AR pistols with stabilizer braces, saying:

The SHORT Act will protect Americans from the anti-2nd Amendment gun registry that the ATF is abusing the National Firearms Act to create. This Congress, I challenge my colleagues in both chambers to make protecting Americans’ 2nd Amendment Rights a priority and sign onto this legislation that will stop the ATF’s pistol brace rule in its tracks.

FOX News quoted Sen. Kennedy saying, “Millions of law-abiding Americans use pistol braces, and many of those Americans rely on braces because they are disabled. If Congress doesn’t correct the ATF’s misguided rule, countless law-abiding gunowners in Louisiana and other states will become criminals in the blink of an eye.”

He added, “The Biden administration’s assault on the Second Amendment isn’t going to stop unless we defend this fundamental liberty.”

Breitbart News reported that Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) is introducing SHORT Act legislation in the House next week.

Clyde also plans to use the Congressional Review Act against the pistol brace rule.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. AWR Hawkins holds a PhD in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.