Appeals Court Rules Against ATF Rule Redefining Pistol Braces

When the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives reclassified so-called pistol braces earlier this year, critics far and wide began speculating that the change would lead to otherwise law-abiding gun owners becoming felons simply for owning a device that had previously been perfectly legal to possess. 

The new policy faced significant pushback, and opponents scored an important legal victory this week.

In a decision on Tuesday as part of a challenge put forth by the Firearms Policy Coalition, 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jerry Smith determined that the ATF failed to provide for public comment after the rule change was first proposed in 2021.

As a result, the implementation of its reclassification of stabilizing pistol braces was effective “a rug-pull on the public,” he added.

Another judge on the panel, Don Willett, argued that the rule change as implemented could constitute a violation of the Second Amendment.

Firearms Policy Coalition attorney Cody Wisniewski declared that the favorable ruling was “a huge win for peaceable gun owners across the nation.”

There was a dissenting opinion in the case, however, with Judge Setphen Higginson reaching the conclusion that the ATF’s reclassification did not require a public comment period and “merely interpreted a law passed by Congress.”

Although the decision resulted in a temporary delay in the implementation of the ATF regulation, the matter is not yet settled. The appeals court sent the case back to a district court judge who declined to overturn the regulation earlier this year.

Judge Reed O’Connor will now have an opportunity to determine whether the rule will be enforced as legal challenges continue to play out in court.

Shortly after the ATF rule change was announced in January, conservative lawmakers and gun-rights advocates mounted a public campaign to express their concerns.

Jason Ouimet of the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action issued a statement calling the reclassification “unconstitutional and arbitrary,” predicting at the time that it would be overturned in court. 

“Every American gun owner is in danger of potentially facing felony charges at the whim of these bureaucrats and without any new statute in place,” he said. “The NRA believes this rule will fail for the same reasons the bump stock rule failed — ATF can only apply federal statutes; it can’t rewrite them. Rest assured, NRA will be challenging the rule.”