AUGUSTA – Rep. John Andrews (R-Paris) and over seventy legislative Republicans have sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland expressing opposition to the Department of Justice and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Forearms and Explosives recently published rule, Factoring Criteria for Firearms With Attached “Stabilizing Braces.”
The letter asserts that the published rule’s reclassification of pistols with stabilizing braces as short barreled rifles (SBRs), subject to additional NFA licensing and restrictions, is ambiguous and arbitrary. Federal agencies do not have the power to write laws. This unconstitutional circumvention of the legislative process creates a de facto ban on a popular and commonly used category of firearms that will turn millions unknowingly into felons.
“This morning members of the House and Senate Republican caucuses sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland at the Department of Justice demanding that the ATF rescind its latest extralegal rule classifying pistol braces as short barreled rifles,” said Rep. Andrews. “This rule is extremely dangerous and would turn law abiding citizens into felons in less than 120 days if the rule stands. It must be rescinded immediately.”
Copies of the letter were also sent to Maine’s Congressional delegation.
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