This was a big week for gun news and The Reload. On Thursday, nearly every Republican senator signed a letter demanding the withdrawal of an ATF proposal to ban most stabilizing pistol braces, and I was the first to get ahold of their letter. That scoop came after my first on-location reporting trip to the Gun Makers Match in St. Augustine, Florida. This week also saw President Biden double down on his gun-control proposals as part of a strategy to combat rising murder rates across the country. And the Ninth Circuit granted a stay to California in the case against their “assault weapons” ban. Plus, I took a look at the real danger of Texas’s silencer law. We also have a lot more stories than usual in the links this week. Biden’s nominee for ATF director garnered a tie vote in committee Thursday and faces an uncertain future, Republicans went after another Biden gun action, Winchester recalled ammo, and much more. Exclusive: 48 Republican Senators Demand Withdrawal of Pistol Brace Ban That Would Affect Millions Forty-eight Republican senators signed a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday slamming the Biden Administration’s plan to ban most pistol braces. The senators blasted an ATF proposal to reclassify guns equipped with the braces as short-barrel rifles and subject them to the National Firearms Act (NFA). They warned the reclassification would mean owners who don’t register their guns would face felony charges and up to 10 years in federal prison per gun. “The way the proposed rule is written makes clear that ATF intends to bring the most common uses of the most widely possessed stabilizing braces within the purview of the NFA,” the senators said in the letter. “Doing so would turn millions of law-abiding Americans into criminals overnight, and would constitute the largest executive branch-imposed gun registration and confiscation scheme in American history.” Click here to read the full story. White House Renews Gun-Control Push, Re-Funds Police Amid Murder Surge President Joe Biden doubled down on his gun-control efforts while opening $350 billion in funding for localities to hire police officers in response to rising crime across the country. The president renewed his call on Wednesday for Congress to pass an “assault weapons” ban as well as a nationwide “red flag” law in a White House document detailing a mix of new and continuing efforts to deal with 2021’s 24 percent surge in murder. He also called on Congress to repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act or for states to pass their own laws circumventing it, in order to hold gun makers liable to criminal acts committed with guns by third parties. Biden’s strategy focuses primarily, though not exclusively, on increasing enforcement efforts against gun makers and dealers as a way of limiting gun crime. In addition to calls for new gun-control legislation, the administration is undertaking a number of initiatives under current law. It announced a new “zero-tolerance” policy for licensed gun dealers who “willfully” violate federal law. The ATF will