EXCLUSIVE--Rep. Andrew Clyde: Do Not Register AR Pistols with ATF

Breitbart News sat down for an exclusive interview with Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) Friday, during which he made clear his hope that Americans will remove stabilizer braces from their AR pistols, making them ATF compliant, rather than register them with the ATF.

Clyde stressed his concern that the ATF is actively trying to form a database of gun owners and his belief that stabilizer brace registration is simply one more way the agency can get gun owners’ names on a list.

He said, “Take the brace off, so registration is not a requirement.”

Clyde continued, “It is so outlandish that ATF is doing is. They have violated the law–they have violated the constitution, which is law. I am confident this stabilizer brace rule will be shot down and I don’t want it to take six years, like it did with the bump stock issue. So, in the meantime, I don’t want people to run afoul of ATF, because they have the resources of the government and individuals generally do not have the ability to withstand those kind of resources being brought against them.”

He added, “So, I would recommend people remove the braces, and that complies with one of the options that ATF provided for complying with their rule. And this is a way to comply without being on the database, because this is truly, in my opinion, simply a way for ATF to register more citizens who own firearms.”

Clyde noted that structure of the ATF registration process includes having each owner of an AR pistol with a stabilizer brace create a digital profile and register the firearm via eForms. He then observed, “In other words, it is not just that ATF is trying to register gun owners but they actually having the gun owners do the work for them.”

He concluded, “It’s unconscionable that ATF is doing is. And people shouldn’t willfully assist them in doing what is wrong.”

On February 10, 2023, Breitbart News reported Clyde’s initial takeaways following the publication of the ATF’s stabilizer brace ban. He discussed his plans to block the ATF pistol brace rule and shared his conviction that the Biden Department of Justice “doesn’t want an armed citizenry” in the first place.