The ATF’s Latest Announcement Shows the Agency ‘Has Gone Off The Deep End’

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives is a federal law enforcement agency that is not well-received among those who fight to protect our Second Amendment rights. And rightfully so. If Democrats had their way, this agency would be expanded and part of the effort to confiscate firearms the Left views as “scary” looking. To use their lexicon, those “assault weapons” they rail against on a daily basis. This is the agency that will maintain the gun registries that would serve as the logistical blueprint for gun grabbers. And right now, they’re planning the largest gun registration push in American history. Yes, you read that right. And it’s happening under President Trump’s watch. Stephen Gutowski has more at the Washington Free Beacon [emphasis mine]:

New guidance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) could put millions of Americans in legal jeopardy.

The ATF published a notice Thursday that could require millions of AR-15 pistols and similar firearms—which are designed with braces that strap on to a shooter’s forearm—to be either registered, turned in, destroyed, or dismantled. But the standards laid out for determining the devices’ legality, such as caliber or weight, provide no objective measures, and the agency said it may also use undisclosed factors to judge the legality of the devices.

The agency conceded in the notice that some pistol braces are legal and should not be subject to the registration or destruction requirement. It said, however, that it could not provide a blanket determination for which pistols, or braces with which they’re often equipped, are legal and said it would have to examine each gun “on a case-by-case basis.” That means owners of the vast majority of the estimated three to four million AR-15 pistols and similar firearms may have to register with the ATF.

Second Amendment advocates were up in arms over the proposed rule, saying the uncertain legal status could destroy several businesses that make pistol braces and harm the gun industry. Erich Pratt, senior vice president of Gun Owners of America (GOA), said the subjective nature of the guidance shows that the “ATF has gone off into the deep end.”

President Trump backed the ATF’s push to ban bump stocks, but this is different. This is the destruction of businesses and a gross infringement on Second Amendment rights. It’s the forced compliance for millions of law-abiding citizens to be included in a government database for merely exercising their constitutional rights. And Trump is AWOL. To makes matters worse, Joe Biden will be sworn in as the next president of the United States in January. Right now, with an incoming Biden presidency, there’s really no room to mount an effective defense other than exposing what this agency plans to do. Under Biden, these intrusive and unconstitutional action items against gun owners and Second Amendment rights will be jacked up on steroids paid for by Mike Bloomberg and his Everytown harem.

Read more at Townhall