Young Introduces Resolution to Protect Second Amendment Rights

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and more than 40 Republican senators introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to prevent the Biden Administration’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) from enforcing an anti-Second Amendment pistol brace rule.

Despite disabled veterans and other Americans relying on stabilizing brace attachments to legally use their firearms, the ATF introduced the Factoring Criteria for Firearms with Attached Stabilizing Braces rule which would reclassify pistols as short-barreled rifles if they have a stabilizing brace attachment. Under this rule, otherwise lawful gun owners could face up to 10 years in jail and thousands of dollars in fines if they fail to register pistols with stabilizing braces with the ATF. If gun owners do not register their firearms, they would have to destroy the firearm, surrender their firearm to the ATF, or remove the brace in such a way that it cannot be reattached.

In 2012, the Obama-Biden administration’s ATF determined that pistol-brace attachments do not change the classification of a pistol to that of a rifle. Despite this, the Biden administration in 2021 directed the Department of Justice (DOJ) to propose a rule that clarifies when a pistol with a brace attachment should be designated as a rifle.

Earlier this year, the DOJ announced the “stabilizing braces” final rule. 

In addition to Senators Young, Kennedy, and Marshall, Senators Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Dan Sullivan (R-Ohio), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) are also cosponsors of this legislation.

Full text of the CRA resolution is available here.