U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., is challenging a Biden administration rule that she argues is in violation of citizens’ Second Amendment rights.
Hyde-Smith has cosponsored the Stop Harassing Owners of Rifles Today (SHORT) Act to overturn the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) final rule for firearms with stabilizing braces.
The SHORT Act would remove National Firearms Act taxation, registration, and regulation requirements for firearms such as short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and any other weapons.
“President Biden and his administration are trying every which way to impose unconstitutional gun control on law-abiding firearm owners,” Hyde-Smith said. “The ATF rule to reclassify many commonly-owned pistols and subject them to burdensome regulation, taxation, and registration is an affront to our constitutional Second Amendment rights. This needs to stop, which is just what the SHORT Act would do.”
The ATF rule is based on NFA provisions regarding short-barreled firearms. Under the rule that went into effect Tuesday, people who own pistols with stabilizing braces are now considered to possess short barreled rifles and subject to enhanced regulation.
In response, the Mississippi senator is also cosponsoring a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval offered by U.S. John Kennedy, R-La., to prevent the ATF rule from taking effect.
The rule establishes a 120-day “Amnesty Registration of Pistol Brace weapons” period for manufacturers, dealers, and individuals to register firearms that have a stabilizing brace.
Instead of registering with the ATF, owners could also remove the stabilizing brace, surrender the firearm to ATF, or destroy it. After the 120-day period, gun owners would be required to pay hundreds of dollars per firearm to register firearms with stabilizing braces.
CRA allows Congress to use expedited procedures to try to stop the ATF pistol brace rule. Its passage would only require a simple majority vote.
According to a Congressional Research Service report, the rule could potentially cause between 10 and 40 million lawfully-purchased pistols to be subjected to additional registration, taxation, and regulation.
In June 2021, Hyde-Smith was among 48 Republicans who signed a letter stating their opposition to the rule, which the ATF projects will immediately impact five stabilizing braces manufacturers, almost 4,000 firearm manufacturers that include stabilizing brace attachments, 13,210 firearm dealers, and 1.4 million firearm owners.
