Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) told reporters Monday that President Biden’s Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, (ATF) bureau “is attacking our Second Amendment and attacking our veterans.”

Hudson was joined by Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) in criticizing the ATF’s push to reclassify AR-pistols with stabilizer braces.

On June 7, 2021, Breitbart News noted the ATF put forward a proposed rule that would place some AR-pistols with stabilizer braces under the purview of the National Firearms Act (NFA). This means the process for acquiring said AR-pistols would be the same as the process for acquiring a suppressor, short-barreled-rifles (SBRs), or a machine gun.

The process includes being fingerprinted and photographed, undergoing a background check, registering the AR-pistol with the ATF, and paying a $200 federal tax. The entire process takes nine to ten months to complete.

On June 16, 2021, Rep. Hudson pushed back against the proposed rule, describing it as a tax on “disabled combat veterans.”

Hudson sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland noting that the ATF previously okayed stabilizer braces because of their benefit to veterans:

The ATF has repeatedly stated, “the brace concept was inspired by the needs of disabled combat veterans who still enjoy recreational shooting but could not reliably control heavy pistols without assistance. Consequently, ATF agrees that there are legitimate uses for certain ‘stabilizing braces.’” If this is the stance of the ATF, then…[the proposed AR-pistol rule] is not an attempt to curb gun violence as suggested by this proposed guidance, but a direct tax on disabled combat veterans.

Now, Hudson and Scalise are declaring publicly their conviction that the ATF’s attack on stabilizer braces is an attack on U.S. combat veterans:

One of the combat veterans who spoke to reporters alongside Hudson and Scalise said, “For the last several years I’ve been traveling around the country teaching veterans how to shoot again. That brace is the foundation of everything I did around the country.”

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. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.