Resolution to Block Stabilizer Brace Rule Fails After Sens. Tester, Manchin Side with ATF

On Thursday, the Senate failed to pass a resolution to block the AR-pistol stabilizer brace rule after Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Jon Tester (D-MT) sided with the ATF instead of their red state constituents.

The Senate voted against blocking the ATF rule by a vote of 50-49.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) joined Manchin and Tester in voting against blocking the rule.

Breitbart News reported that the ATF’s stabilizer brace rule was published in the Federal Registry January 31, 2023.

The ATF noted:

This rule is effective the date it is published in the Federal Register.  Any weapons with “stabilizing braces” or similar attachments that constitute rifles under the NFA must be registered no later than 120 days after date of publication in the Federal Register; or the short barrel removed and a 16-inch or longer rifle barrel attached to the firearm; or permanently remove and dispose of, or alter, the “stabilizing brace” such that it cannot be reattached; or the firearm is turned in to your local ATF office. Or the firearm is destroyed.

On June 13, 2023, Breitbart News reported that the House passed H.J. Res. 44 to block the ATF stabilizer brace rule. The resolution passed by a vote of 219 to 210.

After House passage, the resolution to block the rule moved to the Senate, where it was defeated Thursday.

With the resolution defeated, the two remaining routes for defeating the rule are to have enforcement of the rule defunded in appropriations or to win a decision blocking the rule in the court system.

Breitbart News spoke with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) after the failed attempt to block the ATF rule. She said, “I will continue to stand against President Biden’s rule that turns law-abiding gun owners into felons, even as Senate Democrats caved to the Biden administration’s far left anti-gun agenda. Many Americans, including disabled veterans, rely on these braces to use their firearms, and it is critical their Constitutional Second Amendment rights are fully protected.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010, a speaker at the 2023 Western Conservative Summit, and he holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.