WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senators John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis (both R-Wyo.), voted to protect the Second Amendment rights of the people of Wyoming. The senators joined U.S. Senator John Kennedy (R-La.) and their Republican colleagues in voting for a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) of the Biden administration’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) pistol brace rule.

“People across Wyoming responsibly use their Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms every day. President Biden wants to use this unconstitutional rule to turn law-abiding citizens and disabled firearm owners into criminals,” said Senator Barrasso. “We cannot allow this administration to impose the largest government gun registration and confiscation program in history. Senator Lummis and I will continue to fight against this policy and others that jeopardize the Second Amendment rights of the people of Wyoming and across the country.”

“Stabilizing braces were designed and manufactured to assist disabled combat veterans in shooting larger pistols that were otherwise too difficult for a gun owner with a disability to use,” said Senator Lummis. “The Biden administration’s decision to criminalize law-abiding Wyoming gun owners for simply using a pistol brace tramples all over the Second Amendment. I voted to undo this clear violation of the Constitution.”

The anti-Second Amendment ATF rule reclassifies pistols as short-barreled rifles if they have a stabilizing brace attachment. Many disabled veterans and other Americans rely on these braces to use their firearms. This rule would result in otherwise lawful gun owners facing up to 10 years in jail and thousands of dollars in fines if they fail to register pistols with stabilizing braces with the ATF. If they do not register their firearms, they would have to destroy it, surrender it to the ATF, or remove the brace in a way that it cannot be reattached.

The Congressional Review Act can be used by Congress to overturn certain federal agency regulations and actions through a joint resolution of disapproval. If a CRA joint resolution of disapproval is approved by both houses of Congress and signed by the President, or if Congress successfully overrides a presidential veto, the rule at issue is invalidated.

Background:

Earlier this year, U.S. Senators Barrasso and Lummis joined their Republican colleagues in introducing a set of bills to safeguard Second Amendment rights:

• The SHORT Act, introduced by U.S. Senator Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), rolls back a new ATF rule barring Americans with disabilities from using pistol braces to exercise their Second Amendment rights.
• The Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act introduced by U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), would allow law-abiding gun owners with concealed carry permits in their own states to continue to lawfully carry their weapons in other states with concealed carry laws.

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