ATF Updates Reform Hub — Pistol Brace Rescission Still in Proposed Rule Stage

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives updated its New Era of Reform hub on May 28 — a useful checkpoint for gun owners sorting final rules from proposals still in the comment window.

The April 29 package — rolled out with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and ATF Director Robert Cekada — spans 34 notices across repeal, modernization, and burden-reduction categories.

Some changes are already final. ATF removed bump-stock language from its regulatory machine-gun definitions after Garland v. Cargill. Other pieces, including the formal proposal to rescind the 2023 pistol-brace rule, remain notices of proposed rulemaking — not finished rescissions.

That distinction matters. Federal courts had already blocked brace enforcement in multiple jurisdictions. Gun owners should not treat a proposed repeal as a green light to ignore state-level copycat rules or pending litigation.

What the May 28 update confirms is direction: this ATF is trying to unwind the Biden-era classification fights and align regulations with Bruen and Cargill instead of fighting them in every circuit.

Read the proposed rules. Comment where the docket is open. Treat final rules as live compliance and proposed rules as fights still worth funding.