Just because there was a changing of the guard at a high-profile government agency and some welcome reforms were introduced does not mean all is well, far from it.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) is currently under new management and saying much that is welcomed by Second Amendment advocates. But recent reports revealed that the agency is unapologetically enforcing a rule despite a federal court’s determination.
ATF officials refuse to halt enforcement of vacated rule
ATF officials admitted in a filing last week in the Southern District of Texas that agents still enforce their misguided interpretation of the now-defunct pistol brace rule.
The state of Texas and Gun Owners of America filed suit asking for an injunction against the agency’s actions. In its reply brief on Monday, the ATF argued that the case should be dropped now that the rule has been vacated.
Even though the court eradicated the prior rule, ATF officials still classify some braced pistols as short-barreled rifles.
There is still work to be done to return the ATF to its primary mission
Then the agency doubled down on its stubborn refusal to update its policies. The ATF declared that it intends to “continue to enforce certain statutory requirements and prohibitions that they have been delegated the authority and responsibility to administer.”
ATF attorneys cited the National Firearms Act (NFA) and the Gun Control Act (GCA) as justification for enforcing a rule that no longer applies.
“Plaintiffs also make much of the fact that defendants continue to enforce the NFA’s and GCA’s regulation of short-barreled rifles against some brace-equipped pistols, even though the rule has been vacated. But that should come as no surprise,” the ATF told the court.
The agency added that the plaintiff’s objections to continued enforcement of the pistol brace rule are “moot.”
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