ATF (Sort of) Walks Back Braced Pistol Comments

Last week, we reported that an unnamed ATF official, speaking for the agency’s Firearms Industry Programs Branch (FIPB), counseled a gun owner via ATF’s official email that ATF considers all pistols equipped with stabilizing braces to be short-barreled rifles (SBRs). Had this actually been the case, it would have represented an even more aggressive posture than ATF took in its notorious 2023 rule, “Factoring Criteria for Firearms with Attached ‘Stabilizing Braces,’” which is currently subject to multiple court injunctions. Fortunately, ATF has walked backed those comments, but just where the agency stands on the issue of braced pistols and the National Firearms Act (NFA) is not much clearer.

The update was contained in an email dated Jan. 13, 2025, from Matthew Shear, chief of the FIPB, to an official from Gun Owners of America (a member of which had received the prior FIPB email sparking the concerns). Shear wrote: “ATF agrees that the statement ‘Federal law requires a pistol with an attached stabilizing brace or stock be registered as a short barreled rifle (SBR)’ is overbroad.”

Nevertheless, Shear’s response then goes on to reiterate points made in the original email, chiefly that ATF still considers itself responsible for enforcing the provisions of the NFA and the Gun Control Act of 1968 that pertain to SBRs. “A firearm designed and intended to be fired from the shoulder that meets the statutory definition of a short-barreled rifle contained in the NFA must be made and transferred in accordance with the requirements of the NFA,” he wrote. Shear did not, however, elaborate on how the agency would make this determination with respect to braced pistols or how owners of such guns might know whether ATF considers their firearms SBRs subject to the NFA.

The best that can be said is that ATF at least acknowledged that not all braced pistols are the legal equivalent of SBRs.

Perhaps more encouraging, however, ATF now has a new boss in the White House, President Donald J. Trump. As we report elsewhere this week, there could hardly be a starker contrast between Trump and his predecessor, Joe Biden, when it comes to the Second Amendment. Trump’s demonstrated support of the right to keep and bear arms means ATF will have ample reason to curb its recent tendencies to resolve all doubts against law-abiding gun owners and the industry that serves them.

No doubt there will be more to report on this developing issue. Stay tuned to this page for future updates.