This feels like adding a good dose of accelerant onto the smoldering dumpster of already perceived infringements in 2020...
--ATF--, do you really think it's wise to poke the bear right after waking him up, having already pissed in his Wheaties AND told him he can't leave the den?
Looks like guideline documents were published in August 2020.
It'll be hard to blame Biden for that.
I will blame all past, present and future POTUS for allowing the BATF to abuse their administrative authority to continually harass and threaten to make felons out of millions of gun owners if they do not comply with their ever shifting intentionally ambiguous rogue whims.
I do not in fact expect to see any change under a Harris/Biden administration. They have both made their intentions quite clear.
I read the letter in its entirety and find the BATFE argument logically compelling. IMO, there was a good faith effort to allow an accessory to be used in a specific manner and then made allowances to PREVENT the user from committing a felony with incidental contact.
A WHOLE lot of people jumped on the free SBR bandwagon and proclaimed their intent from the rooftops with a middle finger thrown in to boot. The INTENT of braces was to brace. The INTENT of 90%+ of current purchasers seems to be the circumvention of the NFA.
Protest the NFA, not administrative clarification that a blind man could see coming at night. SBR regulation is unconstitutional in my opinion, but it has been upheld by every governmental entity for many, many years. The ATF now seeks to formalize what the majority of brace owners have been informally proclaiming for 3+ years: braces are the quick and easy way to SBR goodness. As such, braces have become a de facto circumvention of law and have so widely deviated from their intended purpose that the entire accessory class is now tossed in the dumpster.
Repeating: in my opinion, the NFA is unconstitutional.
I suggest joining or donating to Firearms Policy Coalition, and GOA they are at least trying. Be forewarned that the FPC will try to solicit more money, but they are trying to be active not sitting on their thumbs
Edit: Along with sending letters/emails yourself.
This /snip/
Practically speaking, for anyone who wants to do NFA registration, I'm guessing that a braced pistol would be classified as an SBR after registration, and thus be ok for a standard stock? Not really familiar with NFA, as I don't have any NFA items.