DOJ puts forward proposed firearm regulation rule

The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday revealed a proposed rule which would make pistols outfitted with certain stabilizing braces subject to rifle regulations.

The Epoch Times reported that the proposed rule says the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives should decide case-by-case if a specific firearm, when outfitted with a stabilizing brace, "bears the objective features of a firearm designed and intended to be fired from the shoulder and is thus subject to the NFA [National Firearms Act]."

"The use of a purported 'stabilizing brace' cannot be a tool to circumvent the NFA (or the GCA) and the prohibition on the unregistered possession of 'short-barreled rifles,'" the proposed rule says, according to the outlet.

The public has 90 days to weigh in on the proposal which has been published in the Federal Register. 

The Epoch Times also said that the Justice Department on Monday published model legislation that the DOJ says will allow states to more easily make laws governing risk protection orders, which the outlet noted can also be known by the phrase "red flag laws."

"The Justice Department is determined to take concrete steps to reduce the tragic toll of gun violence in our communities," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement, according to the outlet. "Today we continue to deliver on our promise to help save lives while protecting the rights of law-abiding Americans. We welcome the opportunity to work with communities in the weeks and months ahead in our shared commitment to end gun violence."