Payne County Sheriff won't enforce ATF stabilizing brace rule

Jan. 27—Payne County deputies will not participate in the confiscation of firearms based on a new rule from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Sheriff Joe Harper announced Friday.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland signed ATF final rule 2021R-08F, which amended the definition of a "rifle" to include weapons that are equipped with accessories, components or other rearward attachments that provide surface area that allow them to be fired from the shoulder — such as stabilizing braces.

Any handguns with stabilizing braces must be registered as short-barrel rifles by May 13. Failure to do so could possibly result in federal enforcement or prosecution.

But Harper released a statement saying his deputies will not attempt to enforce any federal guidelines or rules that conflict with Oklahoma state statutes.

"If a Payne County Deputy encounters someone possessing a firearm with a stabilizing pistol brace and that citizen is not in the commission of a crime, then no action will be taken in regards to this most recent (Department of Justice) rule," Harper said. "If they are using this firearm in the commission of a crime then they will be arrested and prosecuted per Oklahoma law."

The rule does not affect braces that are objectively designed and intended for use by people with disabilities.

Federal lawmakers said they targeted these attachments after a man using one killed nine people in Dayton, Ohio, and another man killed 10 at a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado. ATF Director Steven Dettelbach said the new rule enhances public safety.

Still, Harper joined several other Oklahoma sheriffs in assuring gun owners that their weapons or attachments will not be confiscated unless they are used to commit crimes.

Oklahoma became what Gov. Kevin Stitt called a Second Amendment Sanctuary State in 2021 when he signed a law that said any federal law rule ordering confiscation would be considered an infringement on citizens' rights.