Author Topic: BREAKING: ATF issues decision on pistol braces, misusing makes it an SBR  (Read 4165 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline gryphon

  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 4037
  • First Name (Displayed): Dan
ATF Releases Open Letter Claiming “Misusing” a Pistol Brace Makes It a SBR

ATF does a 180 degree about face on the idea that using a pistol arm brace as a stock is perfectly legal.  Used as intended is okay, but if you use it as a stock you have "redesigned" the firearm and must register it as an NFA weapon!

OPEN LETTER ON THE REDESIGN OF “STABILIZING BRACES”

The Firearms and Ammunition Technology Division (FATD), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has received inquiries from the public concerning the proper use of devices recently marketed as “stabilizing braces.” These devices are described as “a shooter’s aid that is designed to improve the single-handed shooting performance of buffer tube equipped pistols.” The device claims to enhance accuracy and reduce felt recoil when using an AR-style pistol.

These items are intended to improve accuracy by using the operator’s forearm to provide stable support for the AR-type pistol. ATF has previously determined that attaching the brace to a firearm does not alter the classification of the firearm or subject the firearm to National Firearms Act (NFA) control. However, this classification is based upon the use of the device as designed. When the device is redesigned for use as a shoulder stock on a handgun with a rifled barrel under 16 inches in length, the firearm is properly classified as a firearm under the NFA.

The NFA, 26 USCS § 5845, defines “firearm,” in relevant part, as “a shotgun having a barrel or barrels of less than 18 inches in length” and “a rifle having a barrel or barrels of less than 16 inches in length.” That section defines both “rifle” and “shotgun” as “a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder….” (Emphasis added).

Pursuant to the plain language of the statute, ATF and its predecessor agency have long held that a pistol with a barrel less than 16 inches in length and an attached shoulder stock is a NFA “firearm.” For example, in Revenue Ruling 61-45, Luger and Mauser pistols “having a barrel of less than 16 inches in length with an attachable shoulder stock affixed” were each classified as a “short barrel rifle…within the purview of the National Firearms Act.”

In classifying the originally submitted design, ATF considered the objective design of the item as well as the stated purpose of the item. In submitting this device for classification, the designer noted that

The intent of the buffer tube forearm brace is to facilitate one handed firing of the AR15 pistol for those with limited strength or mobility due to a handicap. It also performs the function of sufficiently padding the buffer tube in order to reduce bruising to the forearm while firing with one hand. Sliding and securing the brace onto ones forearm and latching the Velcro straps, distributes the weight of the weapon evenly and assures a snug fit. Therefore, it is no longer necessary to dangerously "muscle" this large pistol during the one handed aiming process, and recoil is dispersed significantly, resulting in more accurate shooting without compromising safety or comfort.

In the classification letter of November 26, 2012, ATF noted that a “shooter would insert his or her forearm into the device while gripping the pistol's handgrip-then tighten the Velcro straps for additional support and retention. Thus configured, the device provides the shooter with additional support of a firearm while it is still held and operated with one hand.” When strapped to the wrist and used as designed, it is clear the device does not allow the firearm to be fired from the shoulder. Therefore, ATF concluded that, pursuant to the information provided, “the device is not designed or intended to fire a weapon from the shoulder.” In making the classification ATF determined that the objective design characteristics of the stabilizing brace supported the stated intent.

ATF hereby confirms that if used as designed—to assist shooters in stabilizing a handgun while shooting with a single hand—the device is not considered a shoulder stock and therefore may be attached to a handgun without making a NFA firearm. However, ATF has received numerous inquiries regarding alternate uses for this device, including use as a shoulder stock. Because the NFA defines both rifle and shotgun to include any “weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder,” any person who redesigns a stabilizing brace for use as a shoulder stock makes a NFA firearm when attached to a pistol with a rifled barrel under 16 inches in length or a handgun with a smooth bore under 18 inches in length.

The GCA does not define the term “redesign” and therefore ATF applies the common meaning. “Redesign” is defined as “to alter the appearance or function of.” See e.g. Webster’s II New College Dictionary, Third Ed. (2005). This is not a novel interpretation. For example ATF has previously advised that an individual possesses a destructive device when possessing antipersonnel ammunition with an otherwise unregulated 37/38mm flare launcher. See ATF Ruling 95-3. Further, ATF has advised that even use of an unregulated flare and flare launcher as a weapon results in the making of a NFA weapon. Similarly, ATF has advised that, although otherwise unregulated, the use of certain nail guns as weapons may result in classification as an “any other weapon.”

The pistol stabilizing brace was neither “designed” nor approved to be used as a shoulder stock, and therefore use as a shoulder stock constitutes a “redesign” of the device because a possessor has changed the very function of the item. Any individual letters stating otherwise are contrary to the plain language of the NFA, misapply Federal law, and are hereby revoked.

Any person who intends to use a handgun stabilizing brace as a shoulder stock on a pistol (having a rifled barrel under 16 inches in length or a smooth bore firearm with a barrel under 18 inches in length) must first file an ATF Form 1 and pay the applicable tax because the resulting firearm will be subject to all provisions of the NFA.

If you have any questions about the issues addressed in this letter, you may contact the Firearms and Ammunition Technology Division at fire_tech@atf.gov or by phone at (304) 616-4300.

Max M. Kingery
Acting Chief
Firearms Technology Criminal Branch
Firearms and Ammunition Technology Division

http://www.atf.gov/sites/default/files/assets/Firearms/FirearmsIndustry/open_letter_on_the_redesign_of_stabilizing_braces.pdf

Offline gryphon

  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 4037
  • First Name (Displayed): Dan
Re: BREAKING: ATF issues decision on pistol braces, misusing makes it an SBR
« Reply #1 on: January 16, 2015, 08:19:07 PM »
So now we can go to jail for holding a gun “incorrectly.”

Offline FASBOLD

  • Posts: 194
  • First Name (Displayed): Larry
Re: BREAKING: ATF issues decision on pistol braces, misusing makes it an SBR
« Reply #2 on: January 17, 2015, 09:48:51 AM »
Quote
So now we can go to jail for holding a gun “incorrectly.”

Why should that be a problem? We can be arrested for crossing the wrong invisible line too.  :sarcasm:
"The people of these United States are the rightful masters of both Congresses and courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution."
~ Abraham Lincoln
                     ****
"Too young to die, too old to take an ass whippin'."
~ Unknown

Offline gryphon

  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 4037
  • First Name (Displayed): Dan
Re: BREAKING: ATF issues decision on pistol braces, misusing makes it an SBR
« Reply #3 on: January 17, 2015, 09:54:56 PM »
SB releases pistol arm braces for H&K, Uzi, KRISS, and Galil Rifles


Offline #1Gunner

  • MOC Member
  • *
  • Posts: 76
Is this the end of the SIG ARM BRACE ~ according to ATF it is...??
« Reply #4 on: January 19, 2015, 05:24:27 PM »
ATF Says a sig arm brace on a rifle fired from the shoulder is considered "re-designed" and is illegal. See open letters here and let me know your thought. Ohhhhh Nooooooo!!!

http://gunssavelives.net/gun-industry/breaking-11615-atf-issues-open-letter-declaring-the-shouldering-of-sig-brace-illegal/

https://www.atf.gov/sites/default/files/assets/Firearms/FirearmsIndustry/open_letter_on_the_redesign_of_stabilizing_braces.pdf

Offline gryphon

  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 4037
  • First Name (Displayed): Dan

Offline linux203

  • MOC Member
  • *
  • Posts: 706
  • First Name (Displayed): Daniel
Re: BREAKING: ATF issues decision on pistol braces, misusing makes it an SBR
« Reply #6 on: January 19, 2015, 07:19:55 PM »
If you are going to revoke all previous letters, put a damn date on this letter and use ATF letterhead.
When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. Luke 11:21

Then He said to them, “But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one."  Luke 22:36

Offline #1Gunner

  • MOC Member
  • *
  • Posts: 76

Offline CitizensHaveRights

  • Posts: 1056
  • First Name (Displayed): Mitch
Re: BREAKING: ATF issues decision on pistol braces, misusing makes it an SBR
« Reply #8 on: January 20, 2015, 11:19:13 AM »


Ten minute video discussing the letter ruling.
He gets into the heart of the matter around 4:30

My favorite youtube commment: Just use your SBR to pound a nail, then according to the ATF, you have redesigned it into a hammer and the NFA doesn't apply to hammers.
« Last Edit: January 20, 2015, 11:25:34 AM by CitizensHaveRights »
"A well balanced breakfast being necessary to the start of a healthy day, the right of the people to keep and eat food shall not be infringed "  - Who has a right to keep and eat food, The People or A Well Balanced Breakfast?

Re: BREAKING: ATF issues decision on pistol braces, misusing makes it an SBR
« Reply #9 on: February 03, 2015, 05:02:43 PM »
Better tell this guy that he just made his rifle in to a pistol if I remember the nfa says no making pistols from rifles 


Spelling destroyed by tapatalk