The ATF has announced that they are withdrawing their
Here is the NSSF statement:
"NSSF had been engaging with manufacturers, distributors, retailers, as well as policymakers to highlight concerns surrounding the proposed guidance. NSSF was working to illustrate the potential impact this guidance would have had on the firearm industry.
NSSF has long requested the ATF to publish objective criteria by which firearm manufacturers can readily produce firearms equipped with arm braces in compliance with the law. To date, the criteria is subjective and open to interpretation on a case-by-case basis. The guidance proposed by the ATF last week did little, unfortunately, to clear the ambiguity that exists with subjective criteria.
NSSF is committed to working with the ATF, on behalf of firearm manufacturers, to establish objective criteria for stabilizing brace-equipped firearms. The firearm industry trade association will continue to monitor and provide updates on any further developments. "
Here is a link to the ATF's withdrawal statement: https://nssfpdf.s3.amazonaws.com/sbcriteriawithdraw.pdf
Background:
The ATF has made a lot of news lately. First they met with Biden to discuss "priorities." And then they raided "Honey Badger" declaring their braces to be a SBR. Then they raided Polymer80 saying that kits that included an 80% receiver were somehow, a firearm even though the possession of the parts does not, and finishing the receiver by machining it and then assembling the kit, is also legal. There were stories that they took Polymer's customer list and were confiscating the kits as contraband. Rumor is that ATF was using an evidence form that allowed them to destroy the kits after the conclusion of their investigation INSTEAD of a normal evidence seizure form.
The focus appears to have been the fact that the kits are shipped in one box whereas shipping them separately would be illegal. Figure that one out. However, following along the (non) logic that a plastic stock can somehow be a "machine gun" the ATF issued a statement that they were looking into pistol braces as a potential NFA item! https://d3uwh8jpzww49g.cloudfront.net/sharedmedia/1511333/2020-27857.pdf
I suspect that this is a temporary pause that will, unfortunately, be revisited this upcoming year with a much more anti-gun Administration.
