09/24/2021 06:27 AM | CHRIS EGER
ATF TO COURT: PISTOL BRACE COMMENTS WILL NEED 120+ DAYS TO PROCESS
https://www.guns.com/news/2021/09/2...e-comments-will-need-120-days-to-processJust working through the nearly quarter-million public comments on a proposed new rule on stabilizing braces of the kind commonly found on AR-style pistols will take federal regulators at least the rest of the year.
The proposed "Factoring Criteria for Firearms with Attached ‘Stabilizing Braces,'" was published in the Federal Register, essentially the federal government's public bulletin board, in June. When the smoke cleared and the comment period closed on Sept. 8, some 211,564 comments were received. According to the agency, it will take them a while to process.
In a joint status report filed with a federal court in Northern Texas, as part of a case brought against the ATF by a gun dealer and two disabled private citizens over the regulation of the devices, the agency asked the court for a continuation of a stay in the legal action so they can work through the comments.
"The next steps in the rulemaking process—including the agency’s processing of all of the comments it has
received—are expected to require more than 120 days," noted the report, asking for a stay until at least Jan. 19, 2022.
All parties agreed to the delay, according to the Second Amendment Foundation, which is working with the FFL and gun owners as plaintiffs in the case.
“Depending upon the DOJ’s final ruling,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb, “SAF reserves the right to amend the court filing to include provisions of the new rule.”
Gottlieb previously explained that the lawsuit involves a lot of moving parts already.
"There are several issues at play in this case," he said. "It concerns the failure of the agencies and its officials to abide by long-established and Congressionally-mandated rulemaking requirements, threatening rights protected by the Second Amendment. Another issue is the question whether the Executive Branch has the authority to re-define stabilizing braces without approval of Congress. This is especially important to disabled persons because these devices were originally developed to benefit shooters with physical disabilities."
Estimates by the ATF are that a minimum of 1 million Americans would be impacted by the proposed rule. Meanwhile, the Congressional Research Service thinks the true numbers could trend as high as 40 million.
As there is no grandfathering allowed under the rule – even for guns lawfully purchased with braces pre-installed by the manufacturer – owners of such newly-defined SBRs would have to either turn the braced pistol over to Uncle Sam, permanently remove or alter the brace so that it cannot be reattached, remove the short barrel from the firearm and install one at least 16-inches in length, destroy the firearm, or submit a Form 1 and $200 to convert it to a legal, registered SBR.
Meanwhile, other gun rights groups which filed comments against the proposed rule, have pointed out at least 40 bullet points where the ATF's proposed rulemaking is a misfire.
