DOJ Filing Reveals ATF Still Targeting Pistol Brace Owners

A recent DOJ legal filing has reignited serious concerns that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives still views braced pistols as short-barreled rifles under the National Firearms Act — despite years of court injunctions, legal defeats, and a supposed policy reversal.

NRA-ILA flagged the filing, warning that DOJ attorneys left the door wide open for future enforcement actions against the millions of Americans who legally purchased pistol brace accessories.

Here's the history. ATF spent years green-lighting pistol braces, allowing the market to grow to an estimated 40 million units in circulation. Then the Biden ATF did a full 180 in 2023, attempting to reclassify those owners as potential NFA felons overnight. Courts slapped that rule down — repeatedly.

Acting AG Todd Blanche now oversees the DOJ that submitted this troubling filing. Gun owners deserve a straight answer from Blanche's DOJ: is the ATF still treating brace owners as suspects, or not?

The stakes are not abstract. The NFA's short-barreled rifle provisions carry penalties of up to 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. That's the cudgel the ATF wants to keep dangling over your head every time you pick up a legally purchased firearm.

This is a federal agency refusing to fully stand down after getting thrashed in court — and a DOJ that won't clearly disavow the enforcement posture that turned millions of gun owners into potential criminals with the stroke of a bureaucrat's pen.

The Second Amendment carries no asterisk for accessories. An American who bought a braced pistol in good faith, based on ATF's own prior guidance, committed no crime. No amount of legal gymnastics changes that fact.

Don't let this story disappear into background noise. Contact Acting AG Todd Blanche's office and demand the DOJ formally abandon any NFA enforcement posture against pistol brace owners. Contact your representatives and push for the Home Defense and Competitive Shooting Act to remove suppressors and short-barreled rifles from the NFA entirely. The bureaucrats are still watching — make sure your lawmakers are watching back.