Posted on 10/09/2020 8:21:41 AM PDT by Red Badger
President Trump’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, in a move his own son has warned could alienate hardcore supporters, has taken the first step to regulate and tax one of the nation’s most popular weapons for plinkers and hunters, the AR pistol.
Without notice and citing unexplained concerns about “public safety,” the Justice Department’s ATF has ordered the maker of several popular AR pistols to “cease and desist” in the production of the top seller “Honey Badger.”
The order, which maker Q LLC complied with to avoid criminal prosecution, has jarred the gun community.
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Rep. Matt Gaetz @RepMattGaetz In June, my colleagues and I sent a letter to the ATF demanding they stop crafting secret rules restricting the possession of pistol braces by American citizens.
I sent a follow-up letter yesterday after receiving no response. The ATF must stop abusing its enforcement authority. Image Image 3:23 PM · Sep 30, 2020 956 521 people are Tweeting about this
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While only Q LLC has received a cease-and-desist letter, most AR makers also produce a version of the shorter-barreled Honey Badger pistol. And if all of those guns are reclassified to rifles by the ATF, 3 million to 4 million owners could become felons overnight, according to the industry group Gun Owners of America.
“President Trump needs to do something,” said GOA’s Alan Rice. “This serious stuff. We’re talking about making law-abiding people into felons,” he added.
The ATF told Secrets that only New Hampshire-based Q LLC’s Honey Badger was the target. But, a spokeswoman added, “regarding other firearms or manufacturers, ATF cannot comment until we see the platform and what accessories may be attached to said platform.”
At issue is the National Firearms Act, a holdover from the Prohibition era and gangland machine gun shootings, and the modern AR pistol. Under the act, rifles with barrels shorter than 16 inches are designated “short-barreled rifles” and require a federal permit and a $200 tax. Permits can take months to get, making the weapons unpopular.
Pistols, nearly always with shorter barrels, are not subject to the act. Working with those rules, AR makers developed a special arm “brace” for users to make short-barreled versions into a “pistol,” a difference long endorsed by the ATF.
Technically, the braces, needed because AR pistols are heavier than normal handguns, are not rifle stocks, standard on the regulated short-barreled rifles. Still, some braces are adjustable and can be used on a shoulder like a stock and are, by some hunters, a loophole of sorts.
What seemed to get Q LLC into trouble with the ATF was its marketing campaign. Most AR pistol makers have posted videos showing their AR pistols being used like rifles. AR rifles are the most popular rifles in the world.
The company’s lawyer said the decision was a shock and unjustified.
Gun owners, notoriously suspicious of the ATF, feel the move was a signal of more to come, especially if Trump loses the election to gun control advocate Joe Biden.
“I urge the ATF to step back from what appears to be a snap decision, as it looks to have been made in a vacuum and goes against previous decisions regarding pistol braces. Though there is likely a lot we don’t know about how this decision was made and gun laws are never black and white, perception is reality in the world today. It would help if the ATF would publicly clarify this decision,” said Justin Anderson, the marketing director for Hyatt Guns of Charlotte, North Carolina.
The National Rifle Association and GOA are also fighting to stop the ATF, as are several lawmakers, led by Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, a close Trump ally. In a letter to Attorney General William Barr, Gaetz said the ATF's decision was made "in secret."
In a recent interview, Donald Trump Jr. told Secrets that it’s not the president who wants any change to the AR pistol rules, but the so-called swamp. “It feels like someone rogue there trying to play games prior to an election on the gun issue.”
2A Ping!.................
Ping !
Can somebody drop that question for the President to address on Rush’s show today? (I don’t know enough technically to phrase one properly).
Atlas Shrugged:
“Did you really think we want those laws observed?” said Dr. Ferris. “We want them to be broken. You’d better get it straight that it’s not a bunch of boy scouts you’re up against... We’re after power and we mean it... There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that’s the system, Mr. Reardon, that’s the game, and once you understand it, you’ll be much easier to deal with.”
They are changing an AR-15 pistol with a wrist support stock to a ‘short-barreled rifle’ which requires a BATF license.
Just ‘cuz they feel like it.
Trump has pissed me off with several unconstitutional gun orders.
Yet another reason to vote for President Trump/Vice President Pence.
Just like the bumpfire stock that Obamas ATF approved.
“could alienate hardcore supporters”
Gee, let me think. Don’t vote for Trump and get who?
I have got a 3-D printer and the files for the basically worthless printed pistols. I could go to Home Depot and make a much more durable and safer “firearm” in much less time than it would take to print and put together the a printed pistol. But if you don’t embed a metal plate in the in your printed gun so that it can be detected by a metal detector you have created an illegal firearm and could get yourself in big trouble.
Post #8, meet post #7.
I can’t help but think that this is yet another thing that deep state scumbags are trying to depress the Trump vote.
More and more I’m afraid that Biden is going to win the election, and that will be the end for the constitution and individual rights.
Mark
A couple of pieces of PVC pipe would work in a pinch.
Why not an EO that says guns cant have sights?
Just 'cuz they feel they effed-up in the first place when they allowed pistol braces and we drove a Mack Truck through their SBR loophole.
They tried to "correct" their perceived mistake in 2017 when they briefly ruled that anyone that shouldered a pistol brace was "redesigning" the firearm from a pistol to a SBR. (ATF Letter here.) That was quickly walked back because it was unenforceable.
Emboldened by their thus far successful reclassification of Bump Stocks as machine guns, they're now going after arm braces on pistols.
The whole point of the original 1934 NFA ban on SBRs and SBSs was because originally handguns were also supposed to be subject to the same then outrageous $200 tax. But at the last minute handguns were removed from the 1934 NFA bill, but SBRs and SBSs stayed in.
It is high time to repeal the entire NFA, or at minimum take out SBRs, SBSs, and silencers.
“...shall not be infringed”. Except by the government?
Congress is prohibited from passing ex post facto laws by clause 3 of Article I, Section 9 of the United States Constitution. I would think that this would extend to the executive branch (BATF) where they are making law (with punishments) with arbitrary regulations at their whim. The time may come soon that this type of executive regulatory lawmaking will be struck down by the judiciary.
It would appear the Trump administration’s going about this in the same manner they effectively banned bump stocks with very little blowback from 2A groups and supporters.
Trump didn’t write this. Bathhouse Barry holdouts in the ATF.
Contrary to what many might think, the President cannot unilaterally fire swamp creatures. They have civil service protections that Congress gave them. They become entrenched and virtually untouchable.
That’s why there are so many “RESIST” folks that are thumbing their noses at the President.
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