Sheriffs press Congress to block Biden’s ‘unconstitutional’ pistol brace ban
Gabe Kaminsky
EXCLUSIVE — Dozens of sheriffs from across the United States are calling on Congress to “reject” the Biden administration’s “unconstitutional” pistol brace ban, according to a letter obtained by the Washington Examiner.
President Joe Biden said he would veto a GOP-led resolution that would overturn a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives rule released in January that classifies pistols with stabilizing braces as short-barreled rifles and mandates people with such devices on pistols to register with the government, the White House said Monday. Now, almost 50 sheriffs are urging congressional leaders in a letter sent Monday to pass the resolution and “preserve the Second Amendment rights of the people.”
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“Sheriffs, Chiefs, and Law Enforcement Officers all over the country are shocked and outraged at the new ATF pistol-brace rule,” Sheriff Chris Brown of Cleburne County, Arkansas, a lead letter signer, told the Washington Examiner. “The ATF is a regulatory agency, not a law-making body. Yet, with one rule, they have managed to make millions of law-abiding American citizens into felons almost overnight. Congress should be outraged and should be taking immediate steps to [rein] in this egregious overreach.”
Republicans have been sharply critical of the rule, which requires those with pistols housing stabilizing braces to complete government registration by May 31 or face a fine. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) sponsored the resolution seeking to roll back the ATF’s rule and claimed last week that Republican leadership threatened to kill it if he did not back the debt limit deal. Biden signed the deal into law last Saturday to avoid the first default in U.S. history.
A vote on the resolution will likely be Tuesday, according to a source familiar.
Still, there is a legal battle over the pistol brace rule. Pro-firearms groups, including Gun Owners of America, have argued in court that it’s an unconstitutional overreach. Those who don’t comply with the registration deadline could face a combination of up to 10 years in prison or a $10,000 fine, according to the ATF. Many who are being targeted by the Biden administration’s rule appear to have not complied out of protest, the Washington Examiner reported.
“It’s clear the Biden ATF violated the Bill of Rights with this executive action, with the goal of harassing as many law-abiding gun owners as they possibly could,” Aidan Johnston, a lobbyist for Gun Owners of America, told the Washington Examiner. “We will continue to push back in Congress and the courts until this rule is sent to the scrapyard where it belongs.”
In their letter, the sheriffs, which hail from mostly Arkansas but also include Illinois, Texas, and New York, told House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), that pistol braces “are essential to the exercise of the Second Amendment by Americans with disability.”
Pistol braces, which are roughly a strap affixed to a gun, were designed to let disabled and wounded veterans hold handguns even if they may have lost use of a portion of their hand.
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“While ATF is a federal law enforcement agency, it has no authority to enact such a gun ban,” the sheriffs wrote in their letter. “Furthermore, ATF agents have no authority to seize pistol braced weapons because they are protected by the Second Amendment. As constitutionally minded law enforcement, we recognize and fully respect the right of the People to keep and bear arms free from infringement — including any pistol with an attached stabilizing brace.”
The letter was also signed by leaders of pro-law enforcement groups, including Daniel Stuebs, executive director of the American Police Officers Alliance.