Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has joined 24 other states in a lawsuit against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), challenging a new federal rule that would turn millions of Americans into felons overnight if they do not register their firearms equipped with pistol braces. For over a decade, the ATF has allowed rifles with barrels shorter than 16 inches to be classified as pistols as long as they were equipped with a pistol brace. The rule change reclassifies those firearms as short-barreled rifles, which are regulated by the National Firearms Act (NFA), and possession of an unregistered short-barreled rifle is a federal felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. AG Bird says, “The Biden Administration is blatantly attacking the Constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens. This new rule will make law-abiding citizens, who are unaware of the rule change, felons overnight, even though they had legally purchased their weapon. This is just the latest example of aggressive federal overreach from the Biden Administration. We must hold the federal government accountable.” The rule change went into effect on Jan. 31, giving pistol-braced rifle owners until May 31 to register their firearms or face penalties. A copy of the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for North Dakota is included with this story on our website.
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