DOJ Filing Proves ATF's Brace War Isn't Over

Despite a string of court defeats that gutted the ATF's 2023 rule reclassifying millions of braced pistols as unregistered short-barreled rifles, the agency's legal posture signals it has not abandoned the fight. The DOJ's latest filing, flagged by NRA-ILA, raises serious red flags about where the ATF stands on enforcement.

Make no mistake: the ATF's brace rule was a bureaucratic power grab that turned law-abiding gun owners into felons overnight — without a single act of Congress. Federal courts saw through it. The Fifth Circuit torched the rule. Law-abiding Americans won.

But the ATF doesn't quit easy.

Acting AG Todd Blanche now oversees the DOJ apparatus still filing these legally tortured arguments. Gun owners deserve a straight answer: will Blanche rein in ATF bureaucrats still angling to criminalize a perfectly legal firearm accessory used by millions — including disabled veterans who depend on braces to shoot safely?

The NFA was never designed to regulate pistol braces. The ATF spent years explicitly telling manufacturers and buyers that braced pistols were legal. Then, under the Biden administration, the agency reversed course and manufactured a new interpretation out of thin air — threatening up to 40 million Americans with felony charges.

Courts rejected it. The American people rejected it. Acting AG Blanche must not allow career bureaucrats at the ATF to keep pushing it.

NRA-ILA has tracked every twist of this regulatory nightmare and continues to fight back. But legal victories only hold when the government respects them — and this DOJ filing proves some inside the Beltway still haven't gotten the message.

Gun owners cannot afford to assume this fight is won. The ATF has a long institutional memory and a longer institutional grudge.

Stay locked in. Support NRA-ILA's litigation efforts, contact Acting AG Todd Blanche's office, and demand the DOJ formally abandon any enforcement posture that treats pistol brace owners as criminals. Your rights are only as secure as your willingness to defend them.