Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office has declared victory over the Biden administration’s attempt to ban pistol braces.
The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled last week the unconstitutional rule is “arbitrary and capricious” and ordered the case remanded back to the district court to consider an injunction.
“As Attorney General, I will defend the Constitution every single time, especially when the Biden-Harris administration moves to eradicate Missourians’ Second Amendment rights,” Bailey said. “The Constitution was meant to be a floor, not a ceiling, for our God-given rights. We will continue to do everything in our power to safeguard Missourians’ right to keep and bear arms against encroachment by unelected federal bureaucrats.”
In the decision, the court said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) promulgated a final agency rule interpreting the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) and the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA) that reclassified pistols equipped with stabilizing braces (braced weapons) as NFA-regulated “short barreled rifles,” which subjects those braced weapons to NFA/GCA regulation.
The plaintiffs — a stabilizing-brace manufacturer, a firearm manufacturer, a gun association, an individual owner of braced weapons and 25 states — sued to enjoin the final rule, arguing it exceeds the ATF’s statutory authority under the NFA and GCA and is arbitrary and capricious. The district court denied the coalition’s motion for a preliminary injunction, and the coalition appealed that denial.
“We conclude the coalition is likely to succeed on the merits of its arbitrary-and-capricious challenge, so we reverse and remand to the district court,” the appeals court wrote.
The coalition claims the ATF’s pistol brace rule burdens law-abiding gun-owners with additional regulations, including higher taxes, longer waiting periods, and registration. All told, millions of Americans have purchased stabilizing braces to achieve safer and more accurate firing, and now, any manufacturer, dealer, or individual that pairs a stabilizing brace with a pistol must comply with the National Firearms Act or risk a felony weapons charge.
The coalition also says Biden ordered the ATF to abandon the old rules and “to treat pistols modified with stabilizing braces” as “subject to the National Firearms Act.”
In his lawsuit which was filed in federal court in North Dakota, Bailey said many pistol brace owners, including older persons, people with limited mobility and those with smaller stature, will be penalized by the rule. His lawsuit pointed out that “many lawful gun owners use stabilizers to prevent some recoil when using firearms” to help with accuracy.
Joining Bailey in the original lawsuit were the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
The other plaintiffs are Firearms Regulatory Accountability Coalition Inc., NST Global LLC doing business as SB Tactical, B&T USA LLC and Richard Cicero. The defendants are U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and ATF Director Steven Dettelbach.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit case number 23-3230 (U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota Western Division case number 1:23-cv-24)