Feds Face Lawsuit Over Allegedly Unconstitutional Push

(PatriotWise.com) — The Gun Owners of America (GOA) have joined with the Gun Owners Federation (GOF) and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to file a lawsuit against the Biden administration for its regulations of pistol braces. The suit has been filed with the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas. It argues that the regulations, which came into effect on January 31st, are unconstitutional. “There is absolutely no legal basis for ATF’s haphazard decision to try to change the long-standing classification for stabilizing braces, force registration on Americans, and then throw them in jail for ten years if they don’t quickly comply,” said Attorney General Paxton.

A pistol brace is a device that can be attached to the rear end of a firearm to stabilize it and make it easier to use with one hand. Gun control advocates claim it transforms a weapon into a short-barreled rifle, meaning it is more heavily controlled under the National Firearms Act. The intention to regulate them was reignited following the 2021 shootings in Boulder, Colorado, when a gunman opened fire, killing 10 people, at a supermarket parking lot. The shooter had used pistols stabilized with braces.

The new regulations require all weapons fixed with pistol braces to be registered and will be subject to a $200 tax. It is estimated that this will mean the registration of more than 40 million guns. If owners do not wish to register their firearms, they may turn them over to the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) agency, destroy them, convert them into a long-barreled rifle, or permanently remove the pistol brace so that it cannot be reattached.

Several Republican-led states, including Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, and Wyoming, have filed a similar joint lawsuit in a federal court in North Dakota. The states’ Attorneys General are arguing not only that the regulations are unconstitutional, but that pistol braces actually make firearms safer by increasing their accuracy.

Gun Owners of America say that the Biden administration is determined to ban or regulate as many guns as possible.

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