SHORT Act

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, on January 13 of this year, the ATF finalized its unconstitutional rule pertaining to firearms with stabilizing braces. Under this new ATF rule, any pistol-braced firearm would be considered an illegal short-barreled rifle, subjecting these firearms to draconian regulations under the NFA, the National Firearms Act of 1934, and turning millions of law-abiding gun owners into criminals literally overnight.

Unelected antigun bureaucrats informed law-abiding gun owners possessing pistols with these braces attached that they will have only 120 days to register them once the rule is published in the Federal Register. This 120-day amnesty window started yesterday, January 31.

As we have seen across the world time and time again, what comes before gun confiscation? Gun registration. That is right. That is exactly what ATF is now demanding.

For stabilizer brace owners who do not wish to register their firearms, the ATF provides four alternatives.

The first: Turn in the entire firearm with the attached stabilizing brace to the ATF. That means forfeiting your firearm.

The second: Destroy the whole firearm. Again, another forfeiture of your firearm.

The third: Convert the pistol brace into a long-barreled rifle that does not require registration but is also much more difficult to use with a brace.

The fourth: Permanently remove and dispose of, or alter the stabilizing brace, from the firearm so that it cannot be reattached.

If gun owners who possess braced firearms refuse to register, destroy, turn in, or alter their firearm after this 120-day window, they face National Firearms Act violations, felony violations, including hefty fines of up to $250,000 and up to 10 years in prison for having an unregistered short-barreled rifle.

In other words, the ATF's rule turns law-abiding gun owners into criminals, into felons, for simply doing nothing.

That is right. If they do nothing, then after 120 days, they are in felony violation of ATF's reinterpreted law, all for simply maintaining their Second Amendment freedoms.

What exactly are these alleged hazardous stabilizing braces? A pistol brace, also known as a stabilizing brace, is simply an accessory that is attached to the rear of a large firearm in order to anchor the gun to the shooter's arm to better stabilize it, allowing them to be more accurately shot one-handed, just like what you see right here. This is a stabilizing brace.

These braces were actually designed to help disabled veterans enjoy the sport of shooting. In fact, as a Federal firearms licensee, my company has sold many of these pistol brace firearms to assist disabled veterans so they can improve their shooting capabilities and their accuracy.

Unfortunately, these beneficial braces have faced uninformed and unwarranted backlash from unelected bureaucrats for years.

In 2012, the ATF provided a letter determining that pistol braces were legal to use and to shoulder. This decision was then reversed 3 years later by the ATF. In 2015, stabilizing braces became illegal to shoulder, turning braced firearms into unregistered short-barreled rifles. The braces remained legal if held at arm's length but illegal if brought back to the shoulder. How does that make any sense?

This flip-flopped again in 2017 when stabilizing braces were once more determined to be legal to shoulder by the ATF, as long as the original design of the brace remained unmodified.

Here we are in 2023 as braced pistols are vilified yet again, declared by the ATF to be unregistered short-barreled rifles requiring registration and their owners classified as felons if they simply do nothing.

Clearly, as in most cases of unconstitutional gun control, unelected bureaucrats who have little to no knowledge of firearms or respect for Second Amendment rights are steamrolling ahead with unlawful restrictions, which will impact, estimates say, anywhere from 3 million to up to 40 million firearms across the country.

Why? To advance the less dangerous dream of disarming our Nation and dismantling our Second Amendment rights. That is what gun control is all about.

The ultimate goal is an unarmed and subjugated America. I can assure gun owners across this great Nation that I and Second Amendment-loving Republican colleagues will do everything in our power to never allow that to happen.

We are fighting this, and we are not going to give up. Congress cannot allow the ATF to brazenly disregard both our Constitution and Congress' role, its sole role in legislation, its legislative authority.

I don't know if ATF Director Dettelbach needs a copy of the Constitution to revisit the explicit language of the Second Amendment or the direct powers granted to the three branches of government, but the last time I checked, only Congress has the authority to make laws.

Let me say that again. Congress makes laws, not unelected antigun bureaucrats at the ATF or any other part of the executive branch, for that matter.

Yet, given the ATF's severely misguided decision to advance its unconstitutional pistol brace rule, I am actively leading the fight to stop this grave injustice.

We have three key tools available to us in Congress to fight the ATF's tyranny.

The first is H.R. 646, the Stop Harassing Owners of Rifles Today Act, or the SHORT Act, which I reintroduced yesterday with Senators Roger Marshall and John Kennedy. This legislation repeals elements of the National Firearms Act, thereby prohibiting the ATF from registering and banning pistols with stabilizing braces.

The second element is a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act, which we will introduce in a matter of days to block the ATF's rule from infringing on Americans' Second Amendment rights. Congressman Richard Hudson, our NRCC chair, has joined me in co-leading this in the House, while Senators John Kennedy and Roger Marshall will introduce the resolution in the Senate.

The third way that we can fight this here in Congress is through the power of the purse. As we write the ATF's appropriations for fiscal year 2024, we can prevent taxpayer dollars from funding this backdoor gun control through what is called a limitation amendment. As a new member on the Appropriations Committee and the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, I look forward to assisting in this effort.

With these three initiatives, we can work together to stop the ATF's unconstitutional overreach.

It would be better if the ATF simply decided to rescind the pistol brace rule so we would not have to take these permanent measures, but we are fully prepared to do so if they will not rescind it.

I am proud to have several of my colleagues here tonight to expose the ATF's unconstitutional rule, as well as to highlight how Congress can stop this latest form of gun control from infringing on law-abiding gun owners' Second Amendment freedoms.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Van Drew).

I thank my good friend from New Jersey, from one of those blue States where you don't necessarily think that there are passionate gun owners. I appreciate them.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Colorado (Mrs. Boebert), who is also the co-chair of our Second Amendment Caucus here in Congress and my good friend.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Colorado for her unwavering defense of the Second Amendment of our Constitution.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Crenshaw).

Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend from Texas for those inspiring words.

I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Massie), my good friend.

I thank my good friend from Kentucky because he is absolutely right. We have the power of the purse.

I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Weber), my good friend.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend from Texas for those great words. He is absolutely correct. When the government fears the people, there is liberty.

I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Gaetz), my good friend.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend from Florida for that is, indeed, a great statement: A shot across the bow; a great example of what the United States Navy would do.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Burchett), my good friend.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from the great State of Florida (Mrs. Cammack).

Mr. Speaker, I thank my great colleague from the State of Florida for those encouraging remarks. I thank all of my colleagues who participated here in this Special Order tonight. It is incredibly important that we show Americans that we are united and unwavering in protecting and preserving our Second Amendment freedoms.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Clyde) for hosting this Special Order on an important topic.

My speech is well beyond the time I am allotted, so I am just going to dispense with the notes, really, and talk about how absolutely insane, ridiculous, and unconstitutional this new rule is.

Not only has it been completely blown out of proportion what the brace is, a brace that was originally designed for disabled veterans, increases stability, and since 2015, had been ruled as an accessory by the ATF which, under their own regulations, under their own guidance, they said that they didn't have jurisdiction over accessories.

So I thought that was very interesting that now we have an unelected swamp creature, a bureaucrat who thinks that they can now make felons-- law-abiding citizens, felons by now instituting this 120-day rule.

A lot of people have talked about this, but few have talked about the

economic impact this will have. Based on the NICS data that we have, this is going to be a $1.9 billion hit to the firearms industry; $1.9 billion to law-abiding citizens.

Believe me, this rule has nothing to do with gun safety. This has nothing to do with making communities safer. This is just a backroom attempt, a backdoor attempt to get at the firearm industry. That is all this is and nothing more.

This is why, Mr. Speaker, we have to pass the SHORT Act. This is why we have to pass the REINS Act, because the REINS Act would prohibit any regulation that has a $100 million or more impact to an industry to come back to Congress for an up or down vote.

You can fire your Congress-critter, but you cannot fire these unelected bureaucrats. We need to pass the REINS Act. We need to absolutely stop this regulation in its tracks. It is time to, once and for all, let those swamp creatures know that the Second Amendment shall not be infringed.

Mr. Speaker, thank you to the gentleman from Georgia and my friend, Mr. Clyde, for hosting this special order on such an important topic. Most of you have likely heard about the new rule from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, that targets stabilizing braces for pistols. The rule wrongly reclassifies these braces as ``short rifles,'' which are heavily regulated under that National Firearms Act. The final rule, published yesterday, January 31st started a 120-day clock for law-abiding gunowners to destroy, forfeit, or register their braces with the ATF. Otherwise, the new regulation will consider any unregistered stabilizing pistol brace as a short-barreled rifle and will subject the owner to penalties of up to 10 years of imprisonment, up to a $10,000 fine, or both.

This is insane and it's an infringement on Americans' Second Amendment rights through bureaucratic rulemaking.

For those who aren't familiar with stabilizing braces, these devices were originally designed with disabled veterans in mind and have been on the market for over a decade. Until last year, the ATF repeatedly stated that stabilizing braces did not convert the handguns into short- barreled rifles. In fact, they claimed going back to 2015 that braces were an accessory and therefore not subject to jurisdiction of the ATF. But Now, bureaucrats at the ATF are changing course. By changing this definition, the ATF is effectively making criminals out of millions of law-abiding Americans when they do not register by a certain date. The ATF is reversing over a decade of agency guidance and rulings on which the firearm industry and law-abiding gun owners have relied for years. The ATF estimates around three million stabilizing braces have been sold, however, a report from the Congressional Research Service puts that number much higher--between 10 million and 40 million.

If you look at just the cost--the cost of this new regulation--a rule put in place by unelected bureaucrats, this one rule will cost the firearm industry and gun owners a whopping $1.9 billion! This number was calculated by using data in NICS and industry data on the average cost of pistol braced firearms. Make no mistake. This new rule is not about gun safety. This is not about gun violence. This is a back door attempt to take down the firearm industry and make millions of law abiding citizens--felons. We must stop this unconstitutional overreach by the ATF and we will.

The Second Amendment is straightforward--the right to bears arms shall not be infringed. We cannot allow the federal government to make it harder--or impossible--for small business owners, homeowners, and law-abiding citizens to defend themselves. That is why we must pass the Joint Resolution of Disapproval for this rule, which prevents it from going into effect and prohibits the ATF from implementing a similar rule in the future. In addition, we must pass the SHORT Act, which would remove the unconstitutional taxation, registration, and regulation in the National Firearms Act of Short Barreled Rifles, Short Barreled Shotguns, and those classified as Any Other Weapons.

Finally, this is just another in a very long line of examples of why we must pass the REINS Act. The REINS Act would prohibit these swamp creatures--the unelected bureaucratic class from legislating from the agency rather than through Congress. The bill is simple. Any major rule or regulation would be required to come back to Congress for an up or down vote. Why? Because you can fire Your Congress-critter. But the big, government establishment has made it virtually impossible to fire these bureaucrats. Once passed, this rule would have never been allowed to go into effect. It's time to pass the Reins act. Time to pass the short act and protect our constitutional rights.

I am proud to join Representative Clyde in introducing these bills, and I appreciate the opportunity to speak on the issue here tonight.

Mr. Speaker, first, I thank my friend, fellow Freedom Caucus colleague, and proven fighter for the Second Amendment, Mr. Clyde, for organizing this Special Order. I thank him for highlighting what is going on here.

Mr. Speaker, the ATF's new pistol brace rule violates the separation of powers. Bureaucrats don't create laws; Congress does. This rule functions like a law that Congress never passed.

ATF--Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. In western Colorado, we call that a fun weekend, but D.C. bureaucrats have used this agency to infringe on the rights of the American people.

When you research how many pistol braces the ATF expects to be registered, the number varies. Some say 10 million, others say 20 million, and it may even be 40 million.

Why such disparity? Because the ATF doesn't know how many are out there because law-abiding Americans do not trust them enough to tell them.

In fact, there are probably going to be many more boating accidents this spring and summer than we have ever encountered in U.S. history from law-abiding gun owners.

We don't trust the ATF because of their overreaching actions, exactly like we are seeing with this rule.

There has been a lot of talk about defunding the ATF, even abolishing the agency altogether. I am still waiting to hear a good reason why the ATF should remain an agency at all. I have yet to hear one.

Instead of providing regulations that keep our communities safe, this agency has made our communities more dangerous by laundering weapons to the cartels. Operation Fast and Furious exposed the recklessness of the ATF, how little regard they have for the rule of law, and Americans have had a hard time viewing this agency and its rules as legitimate.

Think about it. The ATF had about 1,700 firearms that were being tracked. They had tracers on them. They were selling to known criminals during this Operation Fast and Furious. They lost 1,700 traced firearms, and now they expect to go after law-abiding American citizens for firearm accessories?

Are they really that competent to go after this many millions of Americans for a firearm accessory, a stabilizing brace, when they had 1,700 tracked firearms in the hands of known criminals that they just lost?

I think that alone proves the legitimacy of this agency, and I am very excited to bring them into an Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing so they can speak for themselves as to why they should remain an agency in our Federal Government and not have the appropriate features of their agency put under another, like the FBI, once we clean that out.

But other than that, the Second Amendment, it is absolute.

All the regulations the bureaucrats make, the laws that bureaucrats are trying to make, the unconstitutional laws that are passed by the Federal Government, the State legislatures, they make our country less safe. Gun-free zones are the most dangerous places in our country.

The Second Amendment is absolute, and it is here to stay.

A recent report states that Americans own 46 percent of the world's guns. I think we need to get our numbers up, boys and girls.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Clyde for hosting this Special Order. I thank him for bringing us all together on this topic and, hopefully, we can shed some light to the American people and let them know that we are fighting against this agency and their abuse of separation of powers.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia for organizing this time on the floor. I think it is so important.

We are talking about the brace ruling from the ATF. A brace is a firearm accessory for disabled individuals. But I am sure Biden went to his Attorney General and to the ATF and said, you know what, I hate guns. How can I take millions of them off the street, without regard for if they are legally owned? And how can I do it without going to Congress because I really don't be want to do that.

Now, keep in mind, this is administrative law. Our Founders were against this type of thing because they knew that the laws shouldn't change with each administration.

When Democrats controlled both Chambers of Congress and the White House, they didn't pass this legislation.

This ATF rule says that gun owners have 120 days of amnesty to register or destroy their firearm if it has this firearm accessory. If you don't obey, you become a felon.

What this administrative rule does not do is it does not make people safer. This ruling turns millions of law-abiding gun owners into criminals. Tens of millions of pistol braces have been sold in the United States, with the permission of the ATF, the written permission of the ATF.

They are telling you to take this off, or transfer it, or register it like a machine gun, basically, the same paperwork.

If you want to turn it into a short-barreled rifle, guess what? Twenty-six percent of Americans live in a State where the ATF has left them with no option. They will create an illegal gun in their State if they comply with the ATF ruling in order to keep their gun.

How much compliance do we think there is going to be?

Well, there was a bump stock rule similar to this. There are about half a million bump stocks estimated in circulation; 526 have been returned to the government. So they have made half a million felons is what they have done.

Now, Mr. Clyde has several bills to fix this. I can anticipate--or I believe Justice Scalia, if he were alive, I can tell you, I believe, based on a meeting that I had with him, which one he would prefer.

Several of us had breakfast with Scalia, and we said, oh, Obama is so bad, and we don't have the constitutional balance of government. Fix this for us, Supreme Court.

Scalia said, this is not my job to referee fights between you and the executive branch. By the way, you are the most powerful, powerful branch. You are Article I, and you can't--you have all the tools you need to stop what he is doing.

One of my colleagues said, well, impeachment is so hard. Scalia said, I am not talking about impeachment. You are funding everything you complain about.

So I believe that his favorite method here, and it is certainly my favorite method, would have been to defund this activity.

The ruling is unconstitutional. The Second Amendment is clear. Shall not be infringed means shall not be infringed.

I urge all Americans to call their Representatives and support Andrew Clyde's bill.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his leadership on this important issue because the unelected career bureaucrats are at it again. They are launching attacks on our constitutional rights, the constitutional rights of law-abiding gun owners.

This seems to be the sole purpose of the agency lately, attacking the Second Amendment. Now they want to ban pistol braces.

Americans who don't know what a pistol brace is might have some obvious questions after hearing about this ban. What is a pistol brace? Obviously, it makes guns more deadly, right? It makes guns shoot faster. It makes them want to be used only by people who want to murder other people.

Why else would the ATF want to ban it?

But the Americans who actually use pistol braces know the reality: There is zero logical reason to ban pistol braces. It is a device used by a lot of disabled veterans, a lot of people I know, to provide more stability when shooting a gun.

Tens of millions of Americans own this brace, but they would immediately become felons when this goes into effect. That is not even practical from a law enforcement perspective.

Now, you could argue, actually, that the pistol brace makes the gun safer; it makes it less likely to shoot things they are not aiming at.

But no, the impulsive leaders at ATF have once again failed to apply simple logic and reason to their decisionmaking and, instead, chose to apply the mindset of the authoritarian, gun-grabbing bureaucrats we all know that they are.

Congress cannot sit idly by. I recently re-introduced a bipartisan piece of legislation that would create an appeals process for small business owners hurt by these haphazard rulings. Right now, the only recourse that exists is for these gun shop owners and manufacturers to sue the Federal Government in court.

Now, for the average American, that is not exactly doable. It takes time and a lot of money and a lot of resources.

My bill would put the ATF in line with every other Federal regulatory agency's appeal process and ensure Americans can petition their government for the redress of grievances and get decisions handed down in a timely manner.

These taxpayer-funded, anti-gun activists at the ATF cannot continue to trample on our Second Amendment rights without a response from Congress.

We must never cease fighting against these shameless power grabs, and Republican must use our House majority to protect law-abiding gun owners.