On 6 23/23 I watched Sen. John Kennedy (R,La) speaking on the floor of the Senate about pistol braces. The issue was concerning whether Joe Biden’s ATF had the authority to turn pistols using pistol braces into short barreled rifles.
Now let’s be clear. I do not own a gun … yet! Prior to listening to Senator Kennedy’s speech, I did not know what a pistol brace was or what it looked like. I watched this Kennedy speech because I love to watch Sen. John Kennedy speak, and believe me, I was not disappointed as his speech was not only very informative, but also quite humorous in parts.
As background, historically pistol braces were invented to assist individuals who only have the use of one arm (handicapped individuals) to be able to use a pistol. So instead of saying that “one-armed” individuals could not own guns as that would be unconstitutional, Biden’s ATF instead banned pistol braces. As Sen Kennedy emphasized banning pistol braces is just a devious way of banning the possession of guns by certain individuals.
Basically Biden’s ATF said that pistol braces turn pistols into short barreled rifles, and Sen Kennedy was speaking in the Senate because there was going to be a vote to overturn Biden’s ATF’s ban on pistol braces.
The reason that this ATF change in vernacular is important was that short barreled rifles are outlawed, and so bingo-bango-bongo now pistol braces are illegal because magically they turn a pistol into a short barreled rifle.
Some further 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.
If you want to be informed on pistol braces while enjoying yourself, I would strongly suggest watching this YouTube video.
(One classic Kennedy line from this speech … “Under President Biden Americans are a lot poorer, but not necessarily a lot stupider!”)
BTW: The Senate subsequently did take a vote as to whether or not to overturn the ATF’s ban on pistol braces. The overturning of this ban was defeated 50-49 with all of the Democratic Senators voting basically to prevent one armed veterans from owning and using a pistol!
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