What Will ATF Criminalize Next?

By Lee Williams. June 15, 2023

House Republicans tried to stop the massive overreach by unelected bureaucrats at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, who turned more than 40 million law-abiding Americans into felons overnight, but the normal operation of our Constitutional Republic has been perverted by a doddering old buffoon who would rather rule by imperial decree than submit to the normal checks, balances and separation of powers, which have proven so effective for nearly two-and-a-half centuries.

This week, the House passed H.J. Res. 44, which should have sent a strong warning to the Biden-Harris administration that Congress makes law, not ATF or the Executive Branch. The joint resolution would overturn ATF’s final rule, “Factoring Criteria for Firearms With Attached ‘Stabilizing Braces,’” which was published in January. ATF’s rule requires anyone who owns a pistol brace to permanently install a longer barrel, remove and discard the brace, turn it in to ATF, destroy the brace or register it under the National Firearms Act. Those who fail to comply risk federal felony charges.

Kudos to Congressmen Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) and Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) for sponsoring the joint resolution, but on Monday the White House announced that Biden would use his veto pen if it ever reached his desk, and a brief glimmer of hope for 40 million Americans disappeared.

For more than a decade the ATF had no problems with pistol braces, and issued several official letters stating that braced pistols were not short-barrel rifles and did not need to be registered under the NFA. But after Biden was elected, the ATF changed its mind, of course.

What we’re left with is an unconstitutional mechanism whereby ATF can now criminalize any firearm or accessory they want – even those in common usage – and Biden will block Congress from stopping the overreach [...] .....