NRA wins temporary stay in suit challenging ATF's stabilizing brace rule

The National Rifle Association (NRA) has notched a legal win against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), securing a judicial stay against the agency's stabilizing brace rule.

U.S. District Judge Sam Lindsay on Friday issued a ruling granting a preliminary injunction that bars the ATF from enforcing its regulation against NRA members as well as other relevant parties.

In granting the stay, Lindsay found both that the NRA had standing to challenge the rule and "the NRA is likely to succeed on the merits of its claim that the Final Rule violates the APA [Administrative Procedure Act] because it is not a logical outgrowth of the Proposed Rule."

The ATF on January 31, 2023, issued an administrative rule that effectively categorized firearms equipped with a stabilizing brace as short-barreled rifles (SBRs), which are subject to federal regulation.

"The ATF estimates that the Final Rule applies to 99% of brace-equipped firearms," he noted. Under the plan, owners of a firearm equipped with such a brace would have to either register the weapon, replace any short barrels with a longer barrel, surrender the firearm, or destroy it.

The suit named the ATF, ATF Director Steve Dettelbach, the Department of Justice, and Attorney General Merrick Garland as defendants.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.