Missouri among 25 states suing federal government over new pistol brace regulations

Galen Bacharier, Springfield News-Leader
·1 min read
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Two AR-style pistols sit on display at L.E.P.D. Firearms, Range and Training Facility on Tuesday, Apr. 13, 2021 in Columbus, Ohio. President Biden has issued two executive orders on firearms, one that would help stop the proliferation of "ghost guns," or guns assembled from kits with many components needed to complete a firearm but that lack a serial number that can be used to trace the firearm, and another rule that would effectively ban the use of a stabalizing arm brace on AR-style pistols, subjecting them to the same regulations as short-barreled rifles in the National Firearms Act.

Missouri is among 25 Republican-led states suing the federal government to stop new regulations requiring owners of pistols with stabilizing braces to register their firearms and subjects them to higher taxes and longer waiting periods.

The rule, filed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and approved in January, aims to combat what supporters of gun control argue effectively transforms a pistol into a short-barreled rifle. But the Republican attorneys general argue in their suit, filed last week, that the regulations are unconstitutional, violating the Second Amendment.

"I have long held that the Constitution was meant to be a floor, not a ceiling, and the Second Amendment is the amendment that makes all of the others possible," said Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey in a statement Friday.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey speaks to reporters after being sworn into office on Jan. 3, 2023 at the Missouri Supreme Court in Jefferson City.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey speaks to reporters after being sworn into office on Jan. 3, 2023 at the Missouri Supreme Court in Jefferson City.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in North Dakota, argues that the new regulations are "an abrupt reversal of ATF's longstanding position that these items are not subject to (National Firearms Act) controls or heightened Gun Control Act ... regulations."

Republicans both on the state and federal levels have taken aim at the regulations. U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison, a freshman representative from southwest Missouri, filed legislation last month to repeal the 1930s National Firearms Act, in part a response to the pistol brace regulations, which he called "just another example of these blatant attacks on the constitutional rights of Americans." He and other elected Republicans have also called for the ATF to be abolished.

Galen Bacharier covers Missouri politics & government for the News-Leader. Contact him at gbacharier@news-leader.com or on Twitter @galenbacharier.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri joins lawsuit against feds on pistol brace regulations