Biden Vows to Veto Resolution Blocking ATF Stabilizer Brace Rule

President Biden has made clear he intends to veto H.J. Res. 44, the resolution aimed at blocking the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) AR-pistol stabilizer brace rule.

Breitbart News reported that the ATF’s rule re-classifies AR-pistols with stabilizer braces, defining them as short barrel rifles. Short barrel rifles are required to be registered under the auspices of the National Firearms Act (1934), therefore owners of AR-pistols with stabilizer braces are now required to either register the firearms with the ATF or take one of the four following steps:

• Scenario 1: Turn in the entire firearm with the attached “stabilizing brace” to ATF;
• Scenario 2: Destroy the whole firearm;
• Scenario 3: Convert the short-barreled rifle into a long-barreled rifle;
• Scenario 4: Permanently remove and dispose of, or alter, the “stabilizing brace” from the firearm so that it cannot be reattached.

Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) responded to the ATF’s rule by pushing H.J. Res. 44, blocking the rule from the being enforced.

The House has yet to vote on Clyde’s resolution, but Biden is making clear he will veto it if it reaches his desk.

WATCH — “Absolutely Asinine”: Don Jr. Weighs In on DOJ’s Pistol Stabilizer Brace Ban

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The Hill pointed to a White House policy statement, which conveyed Biden’s position: “Even though Congressional Republicans should take additional action to keep these and other dangerous weapons off our streets, they are instead pushing a resolution to reverse this rule and the progress we have made to enforce existing statutory requirements on these dangerous weapons.”

The statement added, “The rationale is clear: short-barreled rifles are more concealable than long guns, yet more dangerous and accurate at a distance than traditional pistols.”

The White House noted that an AR-pistol with a stabilizer brace was used in two mass shootings: The August 4, 2019, Dayton, Ohio, shooting (nine killed) and the March 22, 2021, Boulder, Colorado, grocery store shooting (ten killed).

The White House did not mention that 32 people were killed in the April 16, 2017, Virginia Tech University shooting by one gunman, who was armed with a 9mm pistol and .22 pistol, neither of which had stabilizer braces.

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. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010, a speaker at the 2023 Western Conservative Summit, and he holds a Ph.D. 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.