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1 1 (February 12, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govecgb0001 and id is 1 raw text is: C o g r s i o a R e e a c S e r v i c e February 12, 2021 Handguns, Stabilizing Braces, and Related Components On December 18, 2020, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) published guidance in the Federal Register for public comment that indicated that it was preparing to reclassify certain heavier, larger handguns (pistols) equipped with stabilizing braces as more stringently regulated short-barreled rifles. Such a reclassification would have retroactively triggered the more extensive paperwork and background check requirements of the 1934 National Firearms Act (NFA), and required registration of the owner and firearm with ATF. On December 23, 2020, however, ATF withdrew its guidance, pending further Department of Justice review. Stabilizing Brace: Shooter's Assist or Shoulder Stock? Stabilizing braces are devices that can be attached to the rearward portion (breech) of a handgun or other pistol grip firearm's frame or receiver. The brace extends backwards, generally in alignment with the axis of the barrel(s), so the firearm can be secured to the shooter's forearm, while it is held by its pistol grip or other short stock, making a heavier, larger short-stocked firearm easier to handle. The first prototype stabilizing brace was designed to assist a veteran and service-connected amputee with firing an AR- type handgun singlehandedly. Stabilizing braces and similar devices, however, could serve more generally as a quasi-shoulder stock. The addition of shoulder stock to a short-stocked firearm could possibly change a firearm's classification under current law due to definitional differences between the NFA and Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA). ATF has long ruled that the attachment of a shoulder stock to a handgun or pistol grip firearm transformed that GCA- regulated firearm into an NFA-regulated short-barreled rifle or shotgun. In November 2012, however, ATF determined that attaching a stabilizing brace to an AR-type pistol would not change that firearm's classification from a solely GCA- regulated handgun to an NFA-regulated short-barreled rifle. Since then, many variations of stabilizing braces have been manufactured and sold in the United States. In 2015, in an Open Letter, ATF raised questions as to the legality of using or intending to use stabilizing braces as shoulder stocks. In several private letters, made public by the addressees, ATF appeared to walk back these considerations. In 2018, however, ATF charged an individual with unlawfully possessing an unregistered short-barreled rifle-an AR-type pistol equipped with a cheek rest, which is arguably a variant of a stabilizing brace. ATF submitted that this cheek rest, when fully extended, constituted a shoulder stock, because its length of pull was greater than 13.5 inches (i.e., the distance from the trigger pad to the end of the cheek rest fully extended). The defendant was found not guilty by a jury, based partly on ATF's failure to take the measurement properly in alignment with the barrel's axis. This case is an example of how the absence of definitive determinations about the legality of firearms equipped with stabilizing braces and similar devices may create repercussions. GCA- and NFA-Regulated Firearms When Congress passed the GCA, it significantly amended and repassed the NFA as Title II of that measure. These acts include different, but respective definitions for the term firearm (18 U.S.C. §921(a)(3) and 26 U.S.C. §5845(a)). Under these definitions, all firearms regulated under the NFA are first regulated under the GCA. As discussed below, the three basic types of firearms regulated under the GCA are shotguns, rifles, and handguns. SBSs, SBRs, AOWs, and DDs The NFA further regulates short-barreled shotguns, or SBSs, and short-barreled rifles, or SBRs: (1) shotguns with barrels less than 18 inches in length, (2) rifles with barrels less than 16 inches in length, or (3) any existing shotgun or rifle that has been modified to be less than 26 inches in overall length by shortening its stock and/or barrel(s). (See 18 U.S.C. §§921(a)(6) and (8), and 26 U.S.C. §5845(a).) Under any other weapon, or AOW, the NFA regulates smoothbore handguns (less than 26 inches in overall length) and other concealable firearms with combination smoothbore and rifled bore barrels between 12 and 18 inches in length. The AOW classification also captures certain deceptive or disguised firearms (e.g., umbrella, belt buckle, and pen guns). The term any other weapon is defined at 26 U.S.C. §5845(e). Under destructive device, or DD, the NFA regulates non-sporting shotguns; firearms with barrel bore diameters greater than one-half inch (e.g., grenade launchers, bazookas, and mortars); as well as grenades, rockets, mortar rounds, mines, and other explosive devices (e.g., Molotov cocktails). Congress included similar definitions for the term destructive device in the GCA and NFA (18 U.S.C. §921(a)(4) and 26 U.S.C. §5845(f)). In addition, the NFA regulates machine guns and firearms silencers, which are beyond the scope of this In Focus. Shotgun and Rifle Definitions Congress included identical statutory standalone definitions for the terms shotgun and rifle under the GCA and NFA. The term shotgun means a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned and made or remade to use the energy of an explosive to fire through a ittps://Crsreports congress.gt S

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