The Harris/Biden Insurrection's ATF'nE is imposing a ban on pistol braces as being Short-Barrelled Rifles (SBRs). This whole story shows the failure of the 2A activist community's foolish approach to dealing with the increasingly liberal nature of the American people. See also TDF 47.
First, a rough timeline:
1. Somebody develops a rack similar to "wrist rocket" slingshots for bracing handguns on the forearm while firing one-handed. ATF'nE basically says it's cool. (I wondered about them.)
2. People start "bracing" them against the shoulder. ATF'nE says little or nothing. (I wondered how long before this led to something from ATF'nE.)
3. People start showing off this use, including a video from NRA showing a paraplegic woman ("of Color") doing so. They essentially poked the ATF'nE.
4. December 2020: ATF'nE under pro-2A Trump administration issues admittedly flawed guidelines to set a difference between a "brace" and a SBR-creating stock.
5. INSTEAD OF ENGAGING TO CREATE BETTER GUIDELINES, most of the 2A community yells, "Shall Not Be Infringed" and merely complains about them. ATF'nE under pro-2A Trump administration pulls them.
6. The 2020 Election Steal is in progress, but most of the 2A community and others on the conservative/Right fail to follow the vision of the Founders by calling for Federalist 46 action by the STATE GOVERNMENTS, despite my pointing this out to them.
7. Harris/Biden Insurrection takes power as a result.
8. Anti-2A Harris/Biden Insurrection's ATF'nE issues the recent ruling.
9. 2A activist community: "WAAAA! THE SKY IS FALLING! SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED!" (ATF'nE under Insurrection doesn't change.) Not yet, but they are making it fall.
10. I put this together, pointing out how engagement beats incantation.
I have said since long before the TDF series started that the 2A community needs to ENGAGE--that is, instead of crying like petulant children and yelling, "Shall Not Be Infringed!" as if it was some incantation that sends metaphysical occult shockwaves changing the reality of things, they should address the matters in sight, be they rational societal concerns or political threats, to resolve the matters and heading off the political threat, And doing all of this from the perspective of the FUNCTION and PURPOSE of 2A/RKBA and maintaining essential firepower in that regard. (Whew!) But they said no. And now we have this.
These videos below by a fellow from California tells some backstory on the pistol brace matter, and how we got to this point where a lot of innocent-minded and well-intentioned people (including the lady in the NRA video) stand to be hurt. This guy holds the common purist stance that EVERYTHING imaginable is protected by 2A, including SBRs. He is wrong about that general stance, as TDF10 shows, and he is wrong about rejecting out of hand SBR regulations. BUT--and this is a redeeming quality (perhaps, I hate to admit, might be a result of his California living)--he will be honest and recognize what happened with one company in particular on this. The company developed a "brace" that is clearly a stock, and even (stupidly) used the word "stock" in its promotional materials. They got a ruling on their construct from ATF'nE, which told them it generally formed a SBR. But they basically lied to their customers about that.
The first video is from December 2020 and discusses the initial guideline issuance. The second one is from January 2021 after the guidelines were withdrawn, and goes into documentation of the action by the company. The point is to illustrate a failure on the commercial side in this matter, and hopefully give something that can make common 2A supporters examine their attitudes, perspective, and approach. I urge you to watch both, but especially the second.
Had the proper route of engagement been followed at virtually any stage here, there would not be a problem. A carbine or rifle with 16-inch barrel and 26-inch overall length is more than serviceable for internal home defense, as well as being more effective at "social work" than one of these makeshift SBRs--that is, it fulfills that niche in what is "NECESSARY to the security of a free State." The tactical function of 2A is met by them. One might PREFER something else, and purists will continue their crying. And as a result--and due to their choice to accept the 2020 Election Steal--WE will lose EVERYTHING.
(And for the record, traditional-configuration pistols--like the kind liberals buy and which have the strongest defensibility in the current situation, and which serve the intended purpose of a sidearm or CCW piece well--are unaffected by the recent action.)
This action by the Harris/Biden Insurrection is simply an opening move. And to give credit where due, this particular shot is leveled at something that is indeed ultimately a National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) violation. That makes it much harder to oppose, and the 2A community is in danger of losing its credibility and political capital fighting this issue as a redline in Second Amendment activism, leaning back on a purist statement every time it is asked about the substance. As I myself have said for over a decade, WE need to engage, not incant.
TDF INDEX: Cats, Guns, and National Security: THE DAILY FUDD index. https://catsgunsandnationalsecurity.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-daily-fudd-index.html
