Peace Garden News

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven on June 22, 2023 voted in favor of a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval to prevent the Biden administration’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) from enforcing a rule that would reclassify pistols as short-barreled rifles if stabilizing brace attachments are used. The CRA was blocked in 49-50 vote.

Hoeven helped introduced the CRA with Senators John Kennedy (R-La.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) in March. Disabled veterans and other Americans rely on these braces to use their firearms and 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.  

Under the Biden ATF 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.

“We introduced this CRA to stop the Biden administration’s pistol brace rule, which infringes on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans,” said Hoeven. “This is part of our efforts to push back on the Biden administration’s ATF and uphold the constitutional rights of North Dakotans.”

Original source can be found here.