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The Biden administration announced new rules against pistol stabilizer clamps, which were used in mass shootings, sparking outrage from the Republican Party and the NRA.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives (ATF) filed new regulations Friday that would require weapons with a stabilizer clamp to be treated as short-barreled rifles and therefore would require that owners register for a federal license.
Owners have 120 days to apply for a license or remove the stabilizer clamp from their guns or turn them in to ATF.
The new law is part of President Joe Biden’s plan to end gun violence, focusing on the tools used in the mass shootings in Colorado in 2021 and Ohio in 2019.
However, the move has sparked fury among Second Amendment advocates, with the NRA saying, “The Biden Administration chose to destroy the Constitution today.”
“Joe Biden is an enemy of our Second Amendment,” the group added.
The Biden administration released a new regulation targeting handgun stabilizer braces, requiring owners to register them with the government or dispose of them.
The ATF said the tool (pictured) allows handguns to transform into short-barreled rifles.
The NRA criticized the regulation, calling Joe Biden an “enemy of our Second Amendment.”
Debate over pistol stabilizer clamps has remained heated in the US, as the tool, which was originally designed to help disabled combat veterans enjoy recreational shooting, has been used to carry out shootouts. massive.
In August 2019, Connor Betts had one equipped on his rifle when he killed nine people, including his own sister, in Dayton, Ohio.
The suspect was seen running with the modified .223 caliber rifle while wearing a bulletproof vest, mask and hearing protection as he chased a crowd of terrified people.
Then, in March 2021, Ahmad Alissa had a stabilizer fitted to her gun when she shot and killed 10 people at King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, Colorado.
Among Alissa’s victims was Officer Eric Talley, 51, a father of seven, who rushed to the scene when the shooting was reported.
During Friday’s gun reform announcement, US Attorney General Merrick Garland praised the new regulation as a way to combat mass shootings by not allowing handguns to be converted to short-barreled rifles.
“Keeping our communities safe from gun violence is one of the Department’s top priorities,” Garland said. ‘Nearly a century ago, Congress determined that short-barreled rifles should be subject to increased requirements.
“Today’s rule makes it clear that firearms manufacturers, dealers and individuals cannot circumvent these important public safety protections simply by adding accessories to handguns that transform them into short-barreled rifles.”
ATF director Steven Dettelbach echoed Garland, saying: “Some of the so-called stabilizer bolsters are designed to simply clip onto handguns, essentially making them short-barreled rifles for shoulder firing, therefore, they should be treated in the same way under the statute.
The stabilizer tool was used by Connor Betts (above) when he fatally shot nine people in Dayton, Ohio, in 2019.
It was also used by Ahmad Alissa (above) when he killed 10 people inside a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado in 2019, and one of his victims included a hero cop.
Along with the NRA, the Gun Owners of America lobby group condemned the new rule and vowed to file a legal challenge.
Erich Pratt, the group’s senior vice president, said in a statement: ‘[The Biden administration] continues to find ways to attack gun owners. We will continue to work with our industry partners to amplify the voices of disapproval in the firearms industry and [Gun Owners Foundation]our brother legal arm, will be filing a lawsuit in the near future.
US Rep. Richard Hudson, a North Carolina Republican who spoke out against the then-proposed change in 2021, reiterated that the ATF rule was an “overreach.”
“I will continue to fight ATF’s unconstitutional overreach that could turn millions of citizens into criminals,” Hudson said in a statement.
Republican lawmakers also criticized the regulations as government overreach.
Hudson was also joined by Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho, who said: ‘The rule announced today by ATF on handgun boosters is nothing less than a massive executive branch-imposed gun search and seizure scheme. This is an unacceptable attack on Second Amendment and law-abiding Americans.’
Despite Hudson’s claims that the new regulation would affect disabled combat veterans, the ATF said the rule does not apply to them.
The new rule will go into effect next week, and officials estimate that around 3 million stabilizer braces are in circulation across the country.