This week, we’re diving into the details of the ATF’s pistol brace ban.
That’s why we have pistol brace inventor and SB Tactical owner Alex Bosco on the show. He gave his view on how many guns will be affected by the ban, whether any braced guns avoid the prohibition, and the legal case he’s building against it.
Bosco said he believes there are at least 10 million braces in circulation despite the ATF’s claim the number is closer to 3 million. He said the new rule appears to effectively reclassify all braced guns with rifled barrels shorter than 16 inches long as short-barrel rifles that require registration under the National Firearms Act. That means millions of Americans will have to either dismantle, turn in, or register their braced guns to avoid potential federal felony charges.
But he said the problem goes deeper than that because some braced guns won’t be eligible for registration or dismantling. Bosco noted the ATF said many imported braced guns sold as pistols could not legally be converted to rifles under federal law. That means they must be destroyed or turned in to the ATF.
Bosco argued this was one of several legal weaknesses in the ban that he plans to sue over with the backing of the National Rifle Association, which has committed to helping fund a challenge. The Fifth Circuit’s recent ruling against the Trump-era bumpstock ban provides a good template for how to beat the ATF’s latest regulation, and nearly every major gun-rights group is filing suit against the pistol brace ban. Bosco said he is hopeful they will prevail.
Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about local law enforcement resisting the Illinois “assault weapons” ban, as well as my trip to SHOT Show in Las Vegas, which featured a speech from ATF Director Steve Dettelbach.
You can listen to the show on your favorite podcasting app or by clicking here. Video of the episode is available on our YouTube channel. As always, Reload Members get access on Sunday, and the show goes public on Monday.
8 Responses
From your interview with Alex Bosco, the inventor of the Pistol Brace, to your summary coverage on the SHOT Show, you provided a lot of information in what you stated was a longer than usual podcast. Thank you, Stephen
Thanks for that feedback! I didn’t want to cut it off too early since I thought we were getting good information.
Outstanding podcast! And last week’s discussion with R. J. Lehmann was exceptional, too! If I may, here are some people I’d like to hear you talk with on future podcasts: Chuck Michel, David Kopel, Matt Larosiere and Eugene Volokh.
Alex Bosco’s alert about the interaction between the ATF’s new pistol brace rule and 18 U.S. Code § 922(r) was especially interesting—and troubling. For me, it really emphasizes how inappropriate, outdated and unconstitutional it is for any law or regulation to reference “not being particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes.” Heller firmly declared that “self-defense… was the central component of the [Second Amendment] right itself” [emphasis in original]. It is unconscionable in 2023 for the federal government to be confiscating legitimate self-defense arms because they are well-suited for self-defense!
Ideally, Congress should repeal all of these “sporting purposes” tests. I understand this may not be a particularly high priority for many people. But doing so should be easy precisely because it should be relatively uncontroversial. Including a repeal in last summer’s Safer Communities Act could have been a politically painless token of real compromise. Maybe ATF’s blatant power grab will finally spur some action, if not with Congress then through a timely court injunction.
Thanks for those guest suggestions. Those are very good ideas.
FWIW, it’s apparently misinformation that ATF’s new rule makes foreign-made pistols with stabilizing braces a violation of § 922(r), requiring their surrender or destruction. At the very least, by its text, § 922(r) doesn’t affect possession. There may very well be some consequences for FFLs, and specifically for 08 FFLs. But this is hardly a “bombshell” affecting millions of end users.
There is a great deal of confusion around the 922r issue right now. Although it is true that 922r only criminalizes the assembly of the gun, not possession, the ATF indicates in its rule and impact statement that it thinks people should or will turn in or destroy 922r guns. I’ve asked the ATF for clarity on what their position is. Hopefully, we will hear back soon.
Matt Larosiere’s take: https://youtu.be/iGdjQ4Iylzo
Yea, that’s a good video on the legal questions involved here. However, the ATF’s rule and RIA do seem to imply people with pistol-braced guns affected by 922r will have to turn them in or destroy them. At the very least the ATF’s stance is pretty confusing. I’ve reached out to the ATF and they are working on getting me an answer about all this.