Watch Kennedy’s floor speech here.

WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats today blocked Sen. John Kennedy’s (R-La.) joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to prevent the Biden administration’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) from enforcing an anti-Second Amendment pistol brace rule.

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and more than 40 Republican senators co-sponsored the resolution in the Senate, and the resolution previously passed with more than 180 co-sponsors in the House. Senate Democrats blocked the resolution by a vote of 50-49.

“Today, Senate Democrats protected the Biden administration’s misguided rule, which turns law-abiding gunowners in Louisiana and across the nation into criminals in the blink of an eye. Big Brother is demanding that responsible gunowners with pistol braces register their firearms, destroy the firearms, surrender their firearms to the ATF or effectively destroy their braces. President Biden’s assault on the Second Amendment isn’t going to stop,” said Kennedy.

Millions of law-abiding Americans use pistol braces, and many of those Americans rely on braces because they are disabled. The Biden administration’s rule, titled Factoring Criteria for Firearms with Attached Stabilizing Braces, reclassifies pistols as short-barreled rifles if those pistols have a stabilizing brace attachment, even though many disabled veterans and other Americans rely on these braces to use their firearms. 

“So many people who are opposed to the Second Amendment, they say they're not opposed to the Second Amendment. They say they just want to regulate guns. They don’t. They want to abolish guns,” Kennedy explained ahead of the vote on the resolution.

“Now why is that important? Because some Americans don't have two hands or the use of two hands or two arms. Pistol braces were invented to help handicapped people, particularly handicapped veterans who don't have use of both of their own,” he continued.

“Now, this pistol brace, other than stabilizing the pistol, it doesn’t change the pistol in any way. The pistol brace doesn't change the caliber of the pistol, doesn't make it more powerful. The pistol brace doesn't change the number of rounds that the pistol can hold. The pistol brace doesn't make the pistol an automatic pistol. . . . And the pistol brace doesn't make the pistol fire any faster. The pistol brace also does not help the shooter load the pistol more quickly. Except for stabilizing the pistol, it doesn't change the pistol in any way. It just makes it easier to hold, which is important particularly if you're handicapped,” the senator told his colleagues.

Under the Biden ATF rule, gun owners could face up to 10 years in jail and thousands of dollars in fines if they fail to register pistols with stabilizing braces with the ATF. If gun owners do not register their firearms, they have to destroy the firearm, surrender their firearm to the ATF or remove the brace in such a way that it cannot be reattached.

“The Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Bureau has never had a problem with pistol braces. None Zero. Zilch. Nada. Until President Biden became president. Now, President Biden and his ATF have promulgated a rule. It says attaching a pistol brace to a pistol somehow magically stops the pistol from being a pistol and turns it into a short-barreled rifle,” said Kennedy.

“Now, why does it matter? . . . They want to start a gun registry for law-abiding Americans. Hello! They want to start a gun registry,” the senator explained.

“A regulatory agency like the ATF does not have the power under our Constitution to decide major questions like banning pistol braces unless Congress says it's okay through the text of the statute that the agency is relying on,” concluded Kennedy.

Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) introduced Kennedy’s resolution in the House of Representatives, where it passed earlier this month.

Background 

In 2012, the Obama-Biden administration’s ATF determined that pistol-brace attachments do not change the classification of a pistol to that of a rifle. Despite this, the Biden administration in 2021 directed the Department of Justice (DOJ) to propose a rule that clarifies when a pistol with a brace attachment should be designated as a rifle. 

Earlier this year, the DOJ announced the “stabilizing braces” final rule. 

Text of Kennedy’s resolution is available here.