Show-Me State Times

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced a legal victory against the Biden-Harris Administration's attempt to regulate pistol braces. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals deemed the rule "arbitrary and capricious" and remanded the case back to the district court for consideration of an injunction.

"As Attorney General, I will defend the Constitution every single time, especially when the Biden-Harris Administration moves to eradicate Missourians’ Second Amendment rights," stated Bailey. "The Constitution was meant to be a floor, not a ceiling, for our God-given rights. We will continue to do everything in our power to safeguard Missourians’ right to keep and bear arms against encroachment by unelected federal bureaucrats."

The court ruled that "the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) promulgated a final agency rule interpreting the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) and the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA). The Final Rule reclassifies pistols equipped with stabilizing braces (braced weapons) as NFA-regulated 'short barreled rifles,' which subjects those braced weapons to NFA/GCA regulation." The plaintiffs—a stabilizing-brace manufacturer, a firearm manufacturer, a gun association, an individual owner of braced weapons, and twenty-five states—argued that this exceeded ATF’s statutory authority under NFA and GCA and was arbitrary and capricious. The district court had denied their motion for a preliminary injunction, but on appeal, it was determined that "the Coalition is likely to succeed on the merits of its arbitrary-and-capricious challenge."

The ATF's rule imposes additional regulations on law-abiding gun owners, including higher taxes, longer waiting periods, and registration requirements. Millions of Americans who have purchased stabilizing braces for safer firing are now subject to compliance with the NFA or risk felony charges.

Attorney General Bailey's lawsuit emphasized that many pistol brace owners—such as older persons or those with limited mobility—would be penalized by this rule. He noted that "many lawful gun owners use stabilizers to prevent some recoil when using firearms" for improved accuracy.

Joining Bailey in the original lawsuit were attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota Oklahoma South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Utah Virginia West Virginia and Wyoming.

The Court’s decision can be read here.

The original lawsuit can be read here.