The right to keep and bear arms is enshrined in our Constitution; it is our inherent guarantee that the government will never overpower its citizens. However, the Biden Administration and many on the left continue to twist and undermine the Second Amendment – they want citizens to prove to their government that they should be allowed to exercise their Constitutional rights and liberties.
In the latest Biden Administration effort to chip away at our Second Amendment rights, President Biden gave the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) the authority to regulate firearms with stabilizing braces under the National Firearms Act (NFA). This is an unconstitutional overreach that will impact millions of gun owners across the country and unravel over a decade of legal precedent.
A bit of background on stabilizing braces – they were originally designed as a mechanism for disabled combat veterans to handle larger pistols, and there are now approximately millions in use in the United States. Under this new proposal, a gunowner must decide within 120 days to replace or remove the attachment, surrender the firearm, apply to classify the gun as a short-barrel rifle, or be considered a felon. I won’t stand for this attack on our Second Amendment rights. We owe it to those veterans, who fought for our rights, to stand up for theirs – and those of all lawful gun owners.
That’s why I’m pursuing several legislative solutions to block this overstep. When the Biden Administration first announced its intent to promulgate this rule in 2021, I signed a letter explaining the impact this would have on disabled veterans and lawful gunowners and urged them to reverse course. I also cosponsored the Home Defense and Competitive Shooting Act, legislation to remove short-barreled rifles completely from under NFA regulation. Most recently, I helped introduce a joint resolution of disapproval to prohibit the Biden Administration from moving forward with its disastrous rule and prevent the ATF from taking this unconstitutional action in the future.
It’s unfortunate that the Biden Administration continues to target law-abiding gun owners – adding new taxes and placing burdens on gun ownership – rather than working in good faith to reduce senseless acts of violence while upholding Second Amendment rights. Forcing a disabled veteran to register or give up their stabilizing brace, as this rule would do, does not get to the root of the problem that we all wish to solve; it does not improve public safety. It’s just another attack from DC bureaucrats on responsible, law-abiding citizens who are exercising their Second Amendment rights.
While those on the left continue to push gun control measures that demonize gun owners, I’ll continue to remind my colleagues that the Second Amendment isn’t a suggestion – it’s a Constitutional right and it shall not be infringed.
Congresswoman Ashley Hinson (IA-02)
