By Bronson Winslow
Republican Montana Gov. Gregory Gianforte sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland Thursday, saying that Montana will not enforce the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) final rule for pistol braces.
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte
The letter said that the ATF’s final pistol rule “erodes the Second Amendment,” further reminding Garland that Montana passed legislation in 2021 that blocks Montana law enforcement and employees from enforcing any federal law on guns, according to the letter. The rule, announced in January, will void all previous guidance on pistols braces, opting to redefine “rifle” as any weapon “designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder,” forcing pistol brace owners to register their pistols as short barrel rifles (SBR) with the federal government.
“Our right to keep and bear arms is integral to Montana’s and our nation’s rich heritage, and this rule directly violates our long-held traditions. The rule also ignores the design and intent of stabilizing braces – to help disabled veterans fire large format pistols,” Gianforte said in the letter. “As a matter of law, the State of Montana and its political subdivisions cannot enforce, or assist the ATF with enforcement.”
A pistol brace is an attachment for a pistol that assists the user in firing the weapon. Under the ATF final rule, any pistol brace that can be used as a stock redefines the pistols as an SBR, according to the final rule.
In 2021, Montana passed HB 258, which blocks peace officers, state employees or employees of a political subdivision “from enforcing, assisting in the enforce of, or otherwise cooperating in the enforcement of a federal ban on firearms, magazines, or ammunition” and from “participating in any federal enforcement action implementing a federal ban on firearms, magazines, or ammunition,” according to the legislation.
“This rule creates additional barriers to lawful gun ownership and undermines our Montana way of life. I strongly urge you to reverse this decision to acknowledge and respect Montana’s long history of responsible gun ownership,” Gianforte continued.
In January, multiple gun rights advocacy groups and three U.S. military veterans filed separate lawsuits against the ATF, saying the pistol brace rule violates the Constitution.
Garland did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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It’s refreshing to see a governor who stands up for the people of his state against an agency that has no constitutional authority at all and is telling people what rights they have and do not have with the stroke of a pen and without the authorization of the congress. WHAT TRAITORS SIGN MATTERS NOT.
Donald L. Cline: “A federal government that does not derive every scintilla of its lawful and limited authority from the Constitution of the United States is by definition a rogue occupation government and criminal regime. Its authority is null and void and no one is bound by any rule of law to obey it”.
Donald L. Cline: “A State government that exercises any power prohibited to it by the Constitution of the United States as amended is by definition a rogue occupation government and criminal regime. Its authority is null and void and no one is bound by any rule of law to obey its prohibited color of law”.
Phil are you listening?
Seriously? Phil bends more ways than my flag in a stiff wind.
“A pistol brace is an attachment for a pistol that assists the user in firing the weapon” – You’d have to demonstrate that to me. It’s just as easy to fire a pistol without it. What it does is improve accuracy, improve a range target score or take out a squirrel. I’m curious: How many chargeable crimes of aggression have been committed using a pistol brace? How many robberies? How many will this law prevent? So far, gun laws have a dismal record in that respect because the only people they protect are the criminals who don’t obey them anyway.
it’s just the gun nazi’s need to “do something” that really does nothing about any gun violence which their beliefs and way of life seem to instigate. Bravo for Montana’s gov and hopefully more follow suit on these infringements on the 2nd amendment.