Boy, have I got some great news going into the holiday weekend for everyone. But especially for all of you folks who were sitting on the fence with what to do with your braced guns. Between twenty and forty million Americans own guns with support braces, myself included. We faced a May 31st deadline for registering them as “Short Barreled Rifles” with the Bureau of Awesome Parties and big bonfires.
Suddenly, with a decision handed down Friday by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, members of the Firearms Policy Coalition are protected from prosecution by the BATF when it comes to braced firearms. What’s more, the court didn’t “freeze” those protected to members of FPC at the time the injunction was handed down.
In plain English: for now at least, you can remain legal in your current configuration after May 31st by simply spending $30 to become a member of the Firearms Policy Coalition. This is likely to become permanent, but of course, nothing is a sure thing until the Supremes speak. But for now at least, it’s certainly a reprieve.
My prediction: There’s 20-40M braced firearms floating around. Let’s say 10M gun owners have them. In the next few days, FPC could have more members than the National Rifle Association.
Back to Illinois residents:
So, for instance, if you’re a Cook County resident and can’t register your braced gun as an SBR because of the Cook County local ordinance, this solution solves that problem. If you’re got a braced “ghost gun,” you’re also covered. For $30.
If you didn’t get your Curios & Relics FFL and couldn’t register a short-barreled rifle under Illinois law, you’re golden for $30.
That’s less than a steak dinner, folks.
NOT ONLY THAT…
As someone who is a high-profile gun owner, gun activist and major pain in the posterior for our portly governor and his merry band of gun control jihadists, I’ll freely admit that I went with the registration option. There was no way I was going to check the “Molon Labe” box on how to deal with this new “rule” and I’ll tell you why: because Kwame the Kwack and Governor Jelly Bean would love nothing more than to see me perp walked wearing nickel-plated bracelets.
Even after having mailed off my cover letters and fingerprint cards a couple of days ago, I joined FPC Friday evening in case one of my braced gun registrations was disapproved.
You probably should as well. I mean, c’mon. For $30 it’s a good cause AND it’s good insurance against BATF shenanigans.
I’d recommend EVERYONE sign up with FPC, regardless of whether or not you’ve already jumped through the “SBR” registration process for your braced firearm. Just to be safe.
Can I make it more clear that that?
More on this from The Reload:
The ATF can’t arrest members of the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) or customers of Maxim Defense for possession of unregistered pistol-brace-equipped guns, according to a new federal court order.
A three-judge panel on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a new clarification on Friday of its earlier injunction against enforcement of President Biden’s pistol-brace ban. The court sided with FPC’s reading of the injunction and said the order extends to all members of the gun-rights group as well as people who bought braced guns from fellow-plaintiff Maxim Defense.
“This clarification is granted essentially for the reasons concisely set forth in the May 25, 2023, Plaintiffs-Appellants’ Reply to Their Opposed Motion for Clarification of Injunction Pending Appeal,” the court wrote in Mock v Garland. “There, the appellants acknowledge that ‘[a]lthough a nationwide injunction would have functionally addressed the question of scope, on which Plaintiffs now seek clarity, Plaintiffs understand that one was not given . . . . Instead, Plaintiffs merely request clarification on whether their reading of the term ‘Plaintiffs’ to include the customers and members whose interests Plaintiffs Maxim Defense and Firearms Policy Coalition (‘FPC’) have represented since day one of this litigation is correct.’ That reading is correct. Also as requested, the term “Plaintiffs in this case” includes the individual plaintiffs’ resident family members.”
The ruling establishes that the injunction, issued just days before the deadline to register braced guns or face potential federal felony charges, is meant to be read in the most expansive way possible. That may directly impact a second injunction against the ban issued by a federal district judge yesterday, which was worded in the same way as the panel’s order. That increases the difficulty the ATF will have in trying to enforce its new rule since scores more people will be immune from prosecution as the case proceeds.
The issue stems from Biden’s decision to try and reclassify pistol-brace-equipped guns as short-barrel rifles and shotguns, subject to the rules of the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA). That left millions of owners with the options of either dismantling, destroying, or registering their guns by the end of this month. Anyone who refuses to comply could be subject to federal felony charges for possessing an unregistered NFA item.
As soon as the rule was finalized, numerous gun-rights groups filed
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