- Republican lawmakers have introduced bills to remove certain rifles and shotguns from National Firearms Act (NFA) regulation. The proposed SHORT Act would eliminate restrictions on these firearms and require the ATF to destroy related records.
- The bills, introduced by Rep. Andrew Clyde and Sen. Roger Marshall, follow a Texas judge’s overturning of a 2023 rule expanding NFA definitions.
- Stabilizing braces have been used in mass shootings, including one that killed 10 people in a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, and another that killed nine in a bar outside Dayton, Ohio.
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Republican lawmakers have introduced companion bills that would remove certain rifles and shotguns from regulation under the National Firearms Act.
Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., and Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., have reintroduced versions of the Stop Harassing Owners of Rifles Today Act, also known as the SHORT Act, into both chambers of Congress.
The SHORT Act removes certain short-barreled rifles, shotguns and other weapons from the definition of firearm under the National Firearms Act while also eliminating certain restrictions related to their sale or transportation.
In 2023, the Department of Justice changed the definition of “rifle” under the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) regulations to include a weapon accessorized with a stabilizing brace. The brace allows the weapon to be fired while stabilized against the shoulder but is meant to be fastened to the shooter’s forearm.
David Pucino, deputy chief counsel for gun control group Giffords Law Center, said at the time that the pistol brace rule implemented by the ATF addresses a weapon that is particularly lethal and easily concealed.
“Stabilizing braces like the one used to kill ten people in a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, and nine people outside a bar in Dayton, Ohio, make easily concealable weapons much more lethal and dangerous,” Pucino said. “We applaud the ATF for acting to address the 2017 loophole that allowed these braces to be unregulated.”
The rule required those who owned guns modified with a stabilizing brace to pay a $200 fee and register their guns under the National Firearms Act (NFA).
However, in June 2024, a U.S. District Court judge in Texas overturned the rule, determining it violated the Administrative Procedure Act “because it was arbitrary and capricious and was not a logical outgrowth of the proposed rule.”
If passed and made law, the SHORT Act would also require the ATF to destroy records related to weapons registrations and transfers.
In a post on X, Clyde said, “The Biden-Harris administration weaponized the draconian NFA to turn law-abiding Americans — including disabled veterans — with pistol-braced firearms into criminals. The SHORT Act provides a permanent solution to end this tyranny.”
Gun rights advocacy group Gun Owners of America has thrown its support behind the bill.
