Recent arm brace ruling may impact those who received a tax-free amnesty form 1 approval

When those who applied for a tax-free amnesty form 1 registration pursuant to ATF Final Rule 2021R-08F began to receive approvals, I posted an article about the conditions noted on the approved forms.

In that article, I predicted the listed conditions (see image below) might impact applicants in the future if the rule were to be overturned or blocked via injunction.

As I noted at the time:

  1. These are items that the ATF has decided were illegal SBRs from their time of manufacture.
  2. The ATF has, in their eyes, magnanimously agreed to give owners of these ‘illegal SBRs’ an amnesty period and free form 1 approval if they choose to register them.
  3. With this free form 1 approval, the user can put an actual stock on the resulting ‘SBR’ in place of the arm brace.  In other words, it is a full-blown SBR from that point forward, and the owner received that approval for free.
  4. It is possible that the rule might be subject to an injunction or be outright overturned in the future.
  5. If that happens, those that have these conditional form 1 approvals will be in possession of an actual SBR with an actual stockand they didn’t pay the tax on it.

What I interpreted the condition to mean is that, should the rule be overturned, these approvals will no longer be valid and will be removed from the NFRTR.

However, we are in an intermediary stage where it has not yet been struck down but has been blocked by a nationwide injunction out of a Texas Federal District Court in the case of Britto v. ATF.

While we have no idea how long the injunction will be in place, while it is in effect, it is my legal opinion that these approvals are not currently valid.  Therefore, I advise those with a free form 1 registration who have configured these items with something other than an arm brace to remove all stocks, vertical foregrips, or other characteristics you have added that make the item an SBR and return it to a pistol configuration ASAP!  Note that the arm brace can still be left on the firearm.

Could I be wrong in my interpretation?  Of course.  But out of an abundance of caution, I would encourage my clients to not put themselves in legal jeopardy.

If you wish, you may sign up to get email updates whenever I post new content on my website, including any updates on the arm brace legal challenges.

Posted in Administrative Law, AR Pistols, Arm Brace, ATF, ATF Ruling, Court Rulings, Form 1, Regulatory Rulemaking, SBR, Short Barreled Rifles, Stabilizing Brace, Tax Stamp | Comments Off on Recent arm brace ruling may impact those who received a tax-free amnesty form 1 approval

Post Bruen federal case rundown

United States v. Rahimi

Issue

Whether 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8), which prohibits the possession of firearms by persons subject to domestic-violence restraining orders, violates the Second Amendment on its face.

Status

February 2, 2023 / March 2, 2023 – The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down U.S.C. § 922(g)(8) as unconstitutional.

June 30, 2023 – The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.  Outcome pending.

VanDerStok v. Garland

Issue

Whether the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives should be enjoined from enforcing a 2022 rule regulating “ghost guns” as firearms.

Status

June 30, 2023 / July 5 2023 – The United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued an order vacating the rule nationwide.

July 28, 2023 – The Supreme Court stayed (put on hold) the June 30, 2023 order and July 5, 2023 final judgment of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas pending the outcome of the appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

October 2, 2023 – The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the nationwide vacatur was too expansive but that the preliminary injunction regarding the named plaintiffs was reinstated.

Posted in 2A, 922(g), Bruen Decision, Court Rulings, Domestic Violence, Federal Court, Federal Law, Fifth Circuit, Opinion, SCOTUS, Second Amendment, US Supreme Court | Comments Off on Post Bruen federal case rundown

Getting up to speed on the arm brace rule (2021R-08F)

To get up to speed on where we are with this rule, read the following articles:

Documenting the date you assigned your arm brace pistol to your trust

The arm brace rule (2021R-08F) has been published in the Federal Register, so what do we do next?

Debunking some persistent online rumors about the arm brace rule (2021R-08F)

The easiest way to understand the arm brace rule

Free arm brace Form 1 applications are being approved with conditions that might affect owners in the future

Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals grants LIMITED preliminary injunction against arm brace rule

Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals clarifies the scope of their preliminary injunction

Texas Federal District Court grants second LIMITED preliminary injunction against arm brace rule

Amnesty Period Countdown

Amnesty ends May 31, 2023

Posted in 2021R-08F, Administrative Law, AR Pistols, Arm Brace, ATF, ATF Ruling, BATFE, eForms, Form 1, NFA Trusts, Regulatory Rulemaking, SBR, Short Barreled Rifles, Stabilizing Brace, Tax Stamp | Comments Off on Getting up to speed on the arm brace rule (2021R-08F)

Texas Federal District Court grants second LIMITED preliminary injunction against arm brace rule

Almost all of the discussion over the last week regarding the Arm Brace rule has concerned the preliminary injunction granted by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Mock v. Garland.

However, there are a number of other cases litigating the same issue with different plaintiffs. One such case is SAF et. al. v. BATFE, et. al.. This case is currently before United States District Judge Jane L. Boyle of the Northern District of Texas.  On Thursday, Judge Boyle, citing the Fifth Circuit ruling, also granted a preliminary injunction limited to the plaintiffs in the SAF case (see below for the full order).

You may have read my article from earlier today concerning the clarification order issued by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in the Mock case, clarifying the scope of the preliminary injunction.  While we do not have such a clarification from Judge Boyle, her ruling seems to indicate that she intends the plaintiffs in SAF to enjoy the same protections that those in Mock were afforded.

And, as I have repeatedly noted in my other articles, those not thusly protected still need to comply in some fashion before the May 31st deadline.

Download (PDF, 107KB)

Posted in 2021R-08F, 2A, Administrative Law, Arm Brace, ATF, ATF Ruling, BATFE, Court Rulings, Federal Court, Fifth Circuit, NFA Trusts, Regulatory Rulemaking | Comments Off on Texas Federal District Court grants second LIMITED preliminary injunction against arm brace rule

Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals clarifies the scope of their preliminary injunction against arm brace rule

Earlier this week, I wrote a brief article about the Fifth Circuit granting a limited preliminary injunction against implementation of the ATF Arm Brace Rule (2021R-08F).

Since then, I have been asked the same two questions repeatedly by clients who wish to know what this means for them.  Those questions are:

  1. Does this preliminary injunction apply only to plaintiffs located in the Fifth Circuit (Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi) or does it apply to plaintiffs regardless of where they are located in the country?
  2. If I join FPC (one of the plaintiffs in the case) now, will I be afforded the same protection as those that were members at the commencement of the litigation?

Apparently the plaintiffs had been fielding the same questions, because they filed a Motion for Clarification asking the court to specifically lay out the scope of those protected by the preliminary injunction.

Over the objection of the ATF, the court granted the motion and issued an order containing the requested clarification (see below for the full order).

The salient points are:

  1.  This is not a ‘nationwide injunction‘ as that term is used in the legal sense (not the geographic one), meaning it does not bind the federal government in its relations with nonparties.
  2. However, they made it clear that it does protect those “customers and members whose interests Plaintiffs Maxim Defense and Firearms Policy Coalition (‘FPC’) have represented since day one of this litigation,” regardless of where they are located.

Notice the part that I bolded above.  This means that, anyone who can document the fact that they were a member of FPC at the time to the commencement of the suit are protected.  Those who joined afterwards are not.

Those who are customers of Maxim Defense are similarly protected as to the items they purchased from Maxim Defense.  Whether the injunction can be read to include other  arm-brace equipped items those persons might possess was not a question answered by the court.  Out of an abundance of caution, and lacking further clarification from the court, I would advise my clients to assume those items are not protected.

So back to the question at hand.  What does that mean for those who are still not protected in this case?  As I said in my earlier article, while this is a potentially promising step, it is only one of many victories that will have to occur if the rule is to have a chance of being overturned.  In the meantime, you still need to comply in some fashion before the May 31st deadline.

Download (PDF, 82KB)

Posted in 2021R-08F, 2A, Administrative Law, Arm Brace, ATF, ATF Ruling, BATFE, Court Rulings, Federal Court, Fifth Circuit, NFA Trusts, Regulatory Rulemaking | Comments Off on Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals clarifies the scope of their preliminary injunction against arm brace rule