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The US House of Representatives passed a resolution to repeal President Biden’s pistol brace ban yesterday. In a tight vote, the House, led by Republican representatives, passed the resolution 219-210.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) spearheaded the repeal effort. On Tuesday, he criticized the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) for trying to “make felons out of millions of Americans.” He also accused the Biden administration of attacking Second Amendment rights.
Scalise referenced Biden’s backdoor methods. He suggested these were attempts to criminalize law-abiding gun owners, including military veterans.
“We’ve seen – from the very beginning – [President] Biden wants to take away gun rights of law-abiding citizens. He’s tried it multiple different ways, but coming through the backdoor – trying to retroactively make felons out of people, including military veterans who lost limbs fighting for our freedoms – is shameful, and we’re standing up against that,” he said.
The resolution now faces an uphill battle in the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) already voiced his opposition. He called the resolution “awful” and stated it allows people to conceal what he called “an assault weapon.”
The Biden Administration responded with a vow to veto the resolution, stressing their priority is the safety of the American people.
“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 in a statement.
The pistol brace ban, originally enacted as ATF final rule 2021R-08F, amended ATF’s “regulations to clarify when a rifle is designed, made, and intended to be fired from the shoulder.” It affected firearms equipped with stabilizing braces and other attachments.
However, the rule exempts braces designed for individuals with disabilities. Options to comply with the ban included registering it by the deadline per the National Firearms Act, attaching longer barrels, removing the brace and discarding it or permanently altering it, turning in the firearm to the ATF, or destroying the firearm.
The deadline to comply was May 31, 2023. Violators may now face felony charges and the permanent loss of 2A rights as possession of a short-barreled rifle without a tax stamp is prohibited under federal law.
The House’s repeal resolution has now set the stage for a showdown in the Senate. The oral argument for Mock v. Garland, a lawsuit challenging the new rule is also scheduled for June 29th.
Stay tuned for updates.