U.S. Sens. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) and Katie Britt (R-Montgomery) are backing two pieces of legislation to apply gun permit reciprocity across every state and fight back against the recent ATF rule on pistol braces.
The Stop Harassing Owners of Rifles Today (SHORT) Act seeks to halt a recent ruling by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) banning an accessory designed to allow disabled people to fire pistols.
According to the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) and the Gun Control Act of 1968, a firearm with a barrel under 16 inches is defined as a short barrel rifle if it has a stock. Without a stock, it is considered a pistol.
If someone wants a weapon with a stock and a barrel under 16 inches, they must register it as a short-barreled rifle (SBR) with the ATF, go through fingerprinting, pay a licensing fee and experience a long wait.
Pistol braces, designed for people with disabilities, can be affixed to a weapon with a barrel under 16 inches without requiring SBR licensing.
On January 31, the ATF removed the pistol brace exception, forcing every pistol brace user to register their weapons as SBRs by May 31 or alter their weapon to align with the new rule.
The ATF did still allow braces "that are objectively designed and intended as a 'stabilizing brace.'" However, it did outlaw nearly every popular pistol brace brand.
"For too long, federal officials have misplaced their priorities by overregulating the use of firearms that Americans are legally entitled to own," Tuberville said. "The constant malignment of Americans exercising a constitutional right has to end."
The Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act would allow those with concealed carry permits to exercise those rights in any other state that allows concealed carry while still abiding by that state's laws. The legislation treats state-issued concealed carry permits like driver licenses, where an individual can use their home-state license to drive in another state but must abide by that other state's driving laws.
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