The ATF’s final rule on whether pistol braces magically turn pistols into short-barreled rifles was signed on January 13, 2023.

Most of the document is rationalization of why they believe they can get away with this, and explaining away NPRM commenters’ objections. They did agree that the proposed form 4999 — which used an arbitrary point system to differentiate between pistols and short-barrel rifles — was flawed. They decided that was sufficiently flawed that they abandoned it.

The rule gives a slight nod to BRUEN:

Nothing in the Supreme Court’s recent decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen, 142 S. Ct. 2111 (2022), changes this analysis. See id at 2162 (Kavanaugh, J. concurring) (reiterating Heller’s finding that “dangerous and
unusual weapons” are outside of the Second Amendment’s protections).

That presupposes that braces inherently make a perfectly acceptable firearm into a “dangerous” device without actually changing the firearm’s function. It assumes that “1.4 million” braced pistols (the ATF’s own estimate of the number extant) are “unusual.” It also completely ignores the “general historical tradition” test laid out in the main decision.

If you scroll down to page 268, you’ll find the actual final rule, and see that they opted for a evaluation system even more “arbitrary, capricious, and incoherent” than the 4999.

The short form now is that a firearm with a pistol brace is a short-barrel rifled if it is:

“a weapon that is equipped with an accessory, component, or other rearward attachment (e.g., a “stabilizing brace”) that provides surface area that allows the weapon to be fired from the shoulder”

How much surface area does it take to create a rifle? The rule doesn’t say, leaving it up to “”arbitrary, capricious, and incoherent” FTB evaluators. Just think: the more firearms they can declare short-barrel rifles, the more tax money they can collect. No perverse incentive there, eh?

And has arbitrary “other factors,” which are:

“a weight or length consistent with the weight or length of similarly designed rifles”

In a saner world, I could almost let that one slide.

“s a length of pull […] consistent with similarly designed rifles”

Length of pull, as The Zelman Partisans has noted, “presupposes that all braced pistols are SBRs until proven otherwise.” Guilty and taxable until proven innocent. It is the ATF after all.

“equipped with sights or a scope with eye relief that require the weapon to be fired from the shoulder in order to be used as designed”

That one is also almost reasonable, if it weren’t for the rest of the BS.

“Whether the surface area that allows the weapon to be fired from the shoulder is created by a buffer tube, receiver extension, or any other accessory, component, or other rearward attachment that is necessary for the cycle of operation”

Since “surface area” is purely arbitrary and undefined, I don’t see how this clarifies anything. But just wait…

“manufacturer’s direct and indirect marketing and promotional materials”

Now company advertising flacks can inadvertently turn pistols into rifles, and it has nothing to do with the physical characteristics of the firearm or brace. It gets worse, though…

“the likely use of the weapon in the general community.”

If the brace has some undefined amount of surface area, the ATF can still declare anything a short-barrel rifle simply by deciding that it’s likely some idiot somewhere will use his firearm incorrectly.

We would have been better off with the 4999, which at least didn’t test advertising fliers and ATF agents’ purported precognitive powers.

The rule gives those currently in possession of braced firearms a few options.

Send it to the ATF for evaluation, so see if it can make ot past the magic test and remain a pistol.

Destroy the firearm.

Remove the brace and destroy that.

Replace the firearm barrel with a 16 inch (or more) barrel.

Turn the firearm in to law enforcement or the ATF.

Go to prison on an NFA violation even if you have a letter from the ATF saying your braced pistol isn’t a rifle.

Or you can apply to register it. If you do so through the E-Form system within 120 days of the rules Federal Register publication, the ATF will generously waive the usual tax stamp fee.

ATF delenda est.