ATF and the arm brace..now with 100% more WTF

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ATF pens letter on ‘redesigning’ handgun with stabilizing brace
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2015/01/16/sig-brace-no-go-per-atf/

Short version: ATFE sez it’s an arm brace..until you put it up to your shoulder…then you have magically ‘redesigned’ it into a shoulder stock and you’re treading into NFA country.

So..according to the weasels at ATFE…how you use something can ‘redesign’ it. It’s like ATFE has singlehandedly turned every household item into some sort of Transformer. Car out of gas? You’ve redesigned it into a sculpture. Taking a wiz on a campfire? You’ve redesigned your johnson into a fire extinguisher.

This will be interesting to see play out.

9 thoughts on “ATF and the arm brace..now with 100% more WTF”

  1. Hey Cmdr Z, go look at The Feral Irishman site for the cool beached and rusted out aircraft carrier. Fits in with your mastheads.

  2. And here I was about to drop coin on an eight inch .300 BLK upper. Already have my KNK buffer tube and SIG brace but a lot of good that will do me now.

    I’ll probably still get the pistol upper and get a shorter pistol length tube.

    I blame all the morons running around screaming about this as a legal way to an SBR w/o a tax stamp. “I know! Lets get on the noobtubez and tell the world what idiots they are at the ATF!!”

    I also noticed the “redesign” part. That kinda language is just asinine.

    • After looking into this a little further it seems this uproar started when Black Ace Tactical submitted a short barreled shotgun with the SIG brace to the ATF. I can sort of understand the wording of the letter then as the brace is intended for the AR market and not as a universal method to get around the NFA.

      Also as mentioned in the letter it says “any person who INTENDS to use a brace as a shoulder stock must first file an ATF Form 1”. If you write a letter saying you intend to use the brace in a matter is was not designed for, the letter makes sense. If you use the brace as it is was intended and it somehow travels up your arm and unvelcros itself it is not a stock.

      http://www.shootingsportsretailer.com/2014/11/19/could-this-mean-the-end-of-the-sig-brace/

      At least that is what I’m going with…

      • I don’t see why the BATFE would not want it fitted on a shotgun. If by “short barrelled” you mean under 18″ its under the NFA, and if its over 18″ (and 26″ total) you can fit any stock you which i.e. a rifle stock or a pistol grip. It’s not like with rifled barrels where it could be a handgun or a long arm, all smooth barrelled arms are long arms or on the NFA.

  3. What the ATF say is:
    “You asked if building an AR pistol with a SB-15 brace required a Form 1 as a Short Barreled Rifle. If you build the pistol as described and intend to use it as a pistol, then it does not require a From 1 and is just a pistol. If you intend to build a pistol and it is improperly used from time to time, that’s OK. If you intend to build the firearm to be a Short Barreled Rifle and use the pistol brace as a stock, then you intend to build an SBR and that requires a Form 1 and a tax stamp. If you intend to build a small gun designed to be fired from the shoulder, that is an SBR no matter what parts you use.”
    So build it as a pistol and SOMETIMES us it “improperly “.

    • It was the “redesigned” part that I think has a lot of people in an uproar. I find a new way to eat pasta with a fork and I have redesigned the fork.

      So to speak.

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