That ATF Ruling On AR-15 Braces? It’s A Trap!

On Friday, January 13, 2023, ATF (which stands for the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and absolutely not by any means According to The Fuhrer) submitted what they’d called a “final” ruling that made felons out of approximately seven million Americans.

What in the name of a flying monkey’s behind am I talking about?

Follow me on this.

The “final” ruling declared that previously completely legal hand stabilizers/braces attached to AR-15 pistols are now, henceforth and forsooth, by the edict of the emperor of the world and the rightful ruler of Wakanda, hereby illegal.

Hear ye, hear ye.

No act of Congress made this happen. It’s an edict by unelected bureaucrats. In case you thought this was a democratic, constitutional republic – though what in the past couple of years or more would give you that crazy idea?

The not-so-subtle tyrannical overtones aside, the ruling 2021R-08F “Factoring Criteria for Firearms with Attached ‘Stabilizing Braces,'” is, as ATF (All True Fascists) is happy to explain, just a “clarification.”

The previous ATF (A-holes, Tools and Freaks) stance on the issue advised people that it’s completely legal to buy and use pistol braces on AR-15 pistols.

Well, now the overlords have changed their minds, and it’s not.

Felony and up to a $100,000 fine and up to four years in jail worth of “not.”

You can just hear the arrogance emanating from this. “Sue us, peasant.”

There are over seven million AR-15 pistols with pistol braces in the United States. Every one of them was bought or built legally, with the full approval of ATF.

Seven million, I said.

ATF was generous enough to offer the legal owners of these firearms options as follows;

1. Register the AR-15 pistol they’ve made by royal decree into an SBR – Short Barreled Rifle – within 120 days.
2. Remove the brace and make it impossible to reattach. This one is very problematic since with your AR-15 pistol now being an SBR, removing the brace makes it, as ATF defines, into a very much illegal “weapon made from a rifle.” You can not make a pistol from a rifle. But no worries, they’re going to use their discretion in prosecuting. So you’ll only be prosecuted if you’re on one of the million lists (hint: if you’re reading this, you are probably already on a list).
3. You can surrender the firearm you legally paid your hard-earned cash for to the government.
4. You can destroy the firearm.

Since option 2 is still very likely to place you in hot water and options 3&4 imply that you are developmentally disabled, we’ll concentrate on option 1.

Especially since that’s the option politely asking Americans to bend over and drop the soap.

To comply with ATF’ s requirements, you have to register your firearm within 120 days. To register that firearm, you have to submit your name, address, fingerprints, and description of the firearm with form 1 (5320.1) and shell out $200 for the privilege.

Now ATF has a legal record that you own an SBR.

Hold on to that thought for a second.

ATF have a little-known rule when it comes to Form 1.

If you do not get it approved within 88 days, you are automatically rejected.

So not 120 days, 88 days.

But wait, that’s not all!

If you go on the ATF website, it clearly advises that after receiving the form, it will take up to FIVE months to receive their decision.

The actual wait times are much longer. The average wait time to receive form 1 stamp approval is 6 to 12 months. ATF has literally been sued a couple of years ago for taking over a year to deliver their verdict on your God-given rights.

Run through these numbers with me:

In 2022 ATF processed 709,508 weapon applications.

With 709,508 applications, it took them 6 to 12 months to get back to you.

Now on top of their usual workload, we’re adding about 7,000,000 braced equipped AR-15 pistols.

Literally ten times their regular workload in three months.

Not gonna happen.

Not designed to happen.

Obviously.

And if it doesn’t happen in 88 days, ATF will then have a record of you owning an SBR rifle without a license. That you’ve willingly admitted to.

How can they prove you still have that evil SBR in your possession?

Well, my felonious friend, they don’t have to.

You can’t legally sell or gift an SBR to anyone without going through a Federal Firearm Licensed dealer. No private sales, no gun shows.

And they’ve got records on every FFL transaction, which at this point, are kept until Jesus shows up and dropkicks Brandon’s teeth in.

So far, ATF can prove that you own an illegal firearm (by your own admission), they can prove that you do not have a license (they know they’ve not issued one), and prove that you have not sold it to anyone (no record of FFL transaction).

You can’t even change it to a legal full-length (16-inch plus barrel ) AR-15 without committing a felony.

Since your AR-15 pistol is now a rifle, converting it will make it into a “weapon made from a rifle.”

And guess what? ATF or any other law enforcement agency now has a foolproof justification to get a warrant to search and enter your house, in which you’ve admitted you keep an unregistered short barrel rifle.

And the best part-now there is a precedent showing you can outlaw a type of firearm without bothering with a grandfather clause.

How do you like them apples, felon?

“There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.”

― Ayn Rand