U.S. Justice Department announces new rule regarding pistol attachments that will improve gun safety

By Gram Slattery, Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON, January 13 (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department published a new rule on Friday targeting pistol attachments called “stabilizingbraces”. This is a major step in the Biden administration’s effort to tighten gun control regulations.

An attachment to a pistol which functions as a stabilizing brace, it transforms it into a short-barreled weapon similar to a sawed off shotgun. These weapons are dangerous because they have the same power as a traditional rifle but are easier to conceal.

The regulations that govern short-barreled rifles over the decades have been strict. This includes the National Rifle Act which, among other provisions, requires additional taxation and background checks to allow private transfers.

According to department officials, the new rule clarifies how pistols modified with a stabilizing bracelet are subject to these additional requirements.

“This rule increases public safety and stops people from ignoring the laws Congress passed nearly 100 years ago.” Congress stated that sawed off shotguns and short-barreled rifles were to be subjected more stringent legal requirements than all other guns during the time of Al Capone. Steven Dettelbach, the director of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), said this.

Last year, President Joe Biden & U.S. Attorney general Merrick Garland announced that they planned to take action against stabilizing braces.

While Democrats have been pushing for more regulations regarding stabilizing braces in Congress, the majority of Republicans oppose such measures and view them as an infringement of constitutional gun rights.

The new rule allows owners, manufacturers, distributors and dealers 120 days to report their stabilizer braces to ATF tax free. They can also turn in pistols modified by a stabilizing bracket to the ATF or remove it.

The Federal Register will publish it next week. Officials at the department stated that it will go into effect immediately. (Reporting by Gram Slattery, Susan Heavey in Washington Editing By Matthew Lewis