are "arm braces" ATF's backdoor strategy for reducing Form 1 wait times?

[Biggfoot44]

But did you ask if you could get a pack of untaxed cigarettes ?

 

[Ideal Paradigm]

There has been such confusion and ambiguity created in the last few years regarding arm braces on rifle caliber pistols that I can't help but think it's intentional at this point. First they were ok to shoulder, then not ok to shoulder, then ok to shoulder again..... at this point there's enough plausible deniability to keep things sufficiently muddied that it's doubtful anyone would ever find themselves in any trouble for shouldering an arm brace.


So is this an intentional move by NFA branch to reduce the number of incoming Form 1's for SBR's? By letting people essentially create a look-alike SBR from a pistol, thus lowering the volume of Forms needing to be processed and hopefully dropping wait times. Seems like a good strategy on their part, if it's intentional.

I've built 4 bare receivers into rifle caliber pistols with arm braces in the last few months, and I'm seriously contemplating having EVERY bare receiver built into a pistol first, photographed and marked as such, just for the versatility options. I doubt I'll ever again build a receiver into a rifle first again.

It makes me wonder if this was some kind of compromise strategy on their behalf to drop wait times so that suppressors won't need to be unregulated, but will remain NFA, with more realistic wait times

That's a good move with building them into pistols first.

I fully advocate and encourage following all local, state, and federal laws.

With that being said, the bottom line is that the ATF site states (my summary, I am not a lawyer): Arm braces are not meant for shouldering. There have been some conflicting letters on what constitutes a redesign of the firearm. If you want to be 100% safe, don't shoulder an arm brace/stabilizing blade on an AR pistol. Staying out of the gray area allows you to avoid case law and precedents. However, if you want to design an AR pistol and use it in home defense, please observe your local and state laws first. If you can build one and it doesn't violate local and state laws, then consider potential situations where it could be used.

If you want the AR pistol as a range toy, I would say the risk of running the gray area is a little higher. Simply due to your exposure and the fact that some local law enforcement at the range may not be that familiar with the law. Even if you're in the right, it could potentially cost you time and money. In the case that you use the AR pistol in a home defense situation, the burden of proof that you shouldered it will be on the prosection to prove that you used the weapon improperly.

Assuming that you have a justified shoot, it will most likely be lower on the list of priorities for the prosecution. It's also bad PR, generally, for a DA to prosecute a lawful gun owner who defended their life in their home.

In a SHTF situation, you make your own choice with regard to the probability of being prosecuted for potentially shouldering the weapon. Though, in those circumstances, I believe it would be low.

 

[Kman]

I really don't care about the reasoning behind any answer in my favor. Take it and run.

If my wife says yes to sex, I don't stop and have her explain to me why the answer is yes.

 

[rbird7282]

I really don't care about the reasoning behind any answer in my favor. Take it and run.



If my wife says yes to sex, I don't stop and have her explain to me why the answer is yes.

LMAO. Exactly!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[fred333]

There has been such confusion and ambiguity created in the last few years regarding arm braces on rifle caliber pistols that I can't help but think it's intentional at this point.....It makes me wonder if this was some kind of compromise strategy on their behalf to drop wait times so that suppressors won't need to be unregulated, but will remain NFA, with more realistic wait times

I'd seriously doubt it. ATF, like all fed agencies, managed and populated by lazy bureaucrats and well-meaning clock-watchers, hasn't a clue and operates with little or no higher-level brain function. Most of what they do is programmed-in and biased more towards social justice rather than efficiency, quality and getting the job done right. Most likely, the seeming and relatively frequent change-of-mind re arm braces stems from an innate inability to connect [their own internal] dots and a lack of communication between sections; not to mention the ever-confusing spider web of NFA interpretations.
And, yes, I did work on the hill (staffer to Ogden Reid (D-NY), c. 1974).

 

[Mike OTDP]

I think we do have allies inside ATF. The whole SBR situation is a joke at this point. It's perfectly legal to buy a pistol-length upper cash-and-carry, the work of 30 seconds to put it on a completed upper.

The sad fact is that ATF is enforcing a sheaf of laws that date back to the days when a DC-3 was considered the latest thing in airliners. Antique legislation overtaken by technology.

 

[Biggfoot44]

Actually the DC-2 and Boening 247 were just on the cusp of being introduced, and the Ford Tri-Moter was the predominant airliner in actual service .

 

[j_h_smith]

Do you work on the Hill? Have you ever? No, you say? Shocking. How did I know that, right?

Well I have. And not all of them are as useless and disinterested as your own delegation from here in MD. Some of them are very, very responsive to calls and letters from constituents. My former boss was an outspoken (literally) regular type guy from a southern state. Our SOP was that every reasonable inquiry from a constituent got looked into and responded to. So it's not out of the realm of possibility that other men like my old boss would pick up the phone and make a call if one of their voters asked them too. Because I've seen it happen. And agency heads don't like getting calls from the guys who sit on the committees who approve their budgets asking them questions about why the public is pissed off at them.

But I'm sure you're right. It's just overthinking

Did you leave the Hill or did your boss get fired by his/her constituents?