Conservative Wisconsin law firm sues Biden administration over rule on gun stabilizing braces
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MADISON - A conservative law firm based in Wisconsin is suing the Biden administration over a rule that puts new regulations on stabilizing braces, arguing the measure violates the Second Amendment and usurps legislative authority.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced in 2021 the U.S. Justice Department would tighten regulations on stabilizing braces for firearms like the one used in a shooting in a Boulder, Colorado, grocery store that left 10 people dead. The rule, implemented this month, aimed to make clear a device marketed as a stabilizing brace, which DOJ argues effectively allows a pistol to operate as a short-barreled rifle, is subject to the requirements of the National Firearms Act, according to Garland.
Attorneys with the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, representing three Marine veterans in the lawsuit, argue the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives bureau of the DOJ created an illegal rule.
"The new rule unlawfully usurps Congressional authority by significantly expanding the definition of 'rifle' under federal law and, with it, imposes potential criminal liability on millions of Americans exercising their Second Amendment rights," the complaint says. Attorneys argue "such a dramatic seizure of legislative authority" violates the Second Amendment and illegally encroaches on legislative powers.
A spokesperson for the ATF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the ATF, the rule "does not affect 'stabilizing braces' that are objectively designed and intended as a 'stabilizing brace' for use by individuals with disabilities, and not for shouldering the weapon as a rifle," according to DOJ materials.
"Such stabilizing braces are designed to conform to the arm and not as a buttstock. However, if the firearm with the 'stabilizing brace' is a short-barreled rifle, it needs to be registered within 120 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register."
WILL contends the rule requires the plaintiffs to either destroy the firearm, destroy the brace, modify the firearm or register the firearm.
The rule "forces Plaintiffs to either comply with ATF’s demands within 120 days or risk criminal penalties, including up to 10 years in prison, all for owning a device that ATF has repeatedly and affirmatively approved going back more than a decade," WILL argues.
Courtney Subramanian of USA Today contributed to this report.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin law firm sues Biden administration over bew gun brace rules
