The Senate on Thursday shot down a Republican-backed joint resolution that disapproves the Biden administration’s new rule on pistol braces.
Under the rule, AR pistols fitted with arm braces that could potentially allow the weapon to be fired from the shoulder are now classified as short-barreled rifles regulated by the National Firearm Act and must be registered as such. The ATF tells Americans possessing such weapons that they can also replace the short barrel with a 16-inch or longer one, destroy the brace, or even forfeit or destroy the weapon.
Those who fail to comply with the regulation by the June 1 deadline can face felony charges, punishable by up to 10 years in jail or $10,000 in fines or both, according to ATF.
Republicans and Second Amendment advocacy groups have fiercely opposed the ATF rule since its proposal in 2021, arguing that it would turn millions of otherwise law-abiding Americans into federal felons unless and until they submit themselves to a long, expensive, and red tape-plagued process or destroy the accessory they legally obtained in the first place.
“Some studies have shown that there are as many as 40 million pistol braces in the United States that President Biden wants to outlaw,” Kennedy said. “Virtually all of them are owned by law-abiding citizens.”
“A regulatory agency like the ATF does not have the power under our Constitution to decide major questions like banning pistol braces unless Congress says it’s OK,” he argued.
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) condemned the regulation as an “unconstitutional power grab” that “uniquely impacts our nation’s disabled veterans.”
“For some of these individuals who risked their lives for freedoms, for our freedoms, a pistol brace is the only option for safe and effective firearm use,” Marshall said.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) denounced the Republicans for supporting the joint resolution, claiming that pistol braces are “deadly” devices that can modify an AK-style pistol into something that “looks like a machine gun,” which an assailant could use to commit mass shootings.
“Today’s Republican push to ease access to deadly pistol braces is an insult to countless families who have lost loved ones because of these enhanced weapons. This proposal is a shameful, shameful step backward in America’s fight against gun violence,” Schumer continued, describing the Republicans’ effort as “utterly confounding.”
Biden, whose son Hunter this week admitted to illegally possessing a gun while a drug user, pledged last month to veto the joint resolution had it passed the Senate.
“This Administration has no higher priority than keeping the American people safe, which is jeopardized with a vote in support of a resolution that makes it easier for mass shooters to obtain these deadly weapons,” the White House said.
