Washington, D.C. — Today, Congressman Andrew Clyde (GA-09) reintroduced the Stop Harassing Owners of Rifles Today (SHORT) Act, which fights back against the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) recently announced federal registry for firearms with stabilizing braces. Senators Roger Marshall, M.D (R-KS) and John Kennedy (R-LA) introduced the Senate companion bill.

“Congress cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the Biden Administration’s weaponization of the NFA and ongoing assault on Americans’ Second Amendment freedoms,” said Clyde. “In the face of President Biden’s unconstitutional tactics and backdoor gun control, the SHORT Act provides a permanent solution to combat the unlawful Pistol Brace Rule and protect Americans’ constitutional right to keep and bear arms. I’m proud to reintroduce this legislation and lead the fight on behalf of all law-abiding gun owners across our great nation against the Biden Administration’s latest gun-grabbing measure.”

“Finalization of this pistol brace rule represents the worst fears of gun owners across the country,” said Senator Marshall. “The SHORT Act will protect Americans from the anti-2nd Amendment gun registry that the ATF is abusing the National Firearms Act to create. This Congress, I challenge my colleagues in both chambers to make protecting Americans’ 2nd Amendment Rights a priority and sign onto this legislation that will stop the ATF’s pistol brace rule in its tracks.”

“The Biden administration is going to keep looking for ways to penalize law-abiding gun owners unless Congress makes their rights clear. A brace that countless disabled Americans use to exercise their Second Amendment rights should not be regulated by unelected anti-gun bureaucrats, and this bill would force the Biden ATF to stop devising new restrictions for legal firearms,” said Senator Kennedy. 

“The Stop Harassing Owners of Rifles Today (SHORT) Act will repeal elements of the archaic National Firearms Act, which the Biden ATF is using to justify their pistol ban and 'amnesty registration' plan – a policy change that affects millions of law-abiding gun owners and does nothing to curb rising crime. GOA is proud to support the Stop Harassing Owners of Rifles Act, which will protect millions of gun owners, halt these anti-gun infringements, and restore liberty. Thank you to Sen. Roger Marshall and Rep. Andrew Clyde for leading this No Compromise legislation to restore long-lost Second Amendment rights,” said Aidan Johnston, GOA’s Director of Federal Affairs. 

“The NRA is proud to stand with Rep. Clyde and support the Stop Harassing Owners of Rifles Today (SHORT) Act. Given the ATF’s most recent assault on the Second Amendment, this important legislation will protect the right of law-abiding Americans to choose the firearm that best suits their needs while eliminating an outdated and onerous taxing and registration scheme. If passed, American gun owners will no longer have to fear the unconstitutional and arbitrary reinterpretations of the law by unelected, anti-gun bureaucrats. The NRA thanks Rep. Clyde for his unwavering support of the Second Amendment and his leadership in introducing these commonsense reforms,” said Jason Ouimet, Executive Director for NRA Institute for Federal Affairs.

Read the Daily Caller’s exclusive on the SHORT Act HERE.

Full text of the legislation is available HERE. 

Background

The SHORT Act will remove the unconstitutional taxation, registration, and regulation in the draconian National Firearms Act (NFA) of firearms such as Short Barreled Rifles (SBR), Short Barreled Shotguns (SBS), and Any Other Weapons (AOW).

Rep. Clyde’s legislation is needed to push back against President Biden’s attacks on millions of gun owners with his attempted ban on certain pistols through the ATF’s rule change.

Using the NFA, the Biden Administration is pretending people who own pistols with stabilizing braces in fact possess illegal short barreled rifles. ATF is using this excuse to facilitate a ban, forcing gun owners to violate their rule or participate in an unconstitutional “Amnesty Registration of Pistol Brace weapons,” in order to keep their own firearms.

The only way to protect gun owners from the Biden Administration and ensure the ATF does not enact this rule (or any future version of it) is by deregulating NFA firearms through the elimination of unconstitutional and unnecessary restrictions, taxation, and registration placed on NFA firearms in 1934.

Short Barreled Rifle Deregulation:

• An SBR is a rifle that has a barrel length less than 16 inches or an overall length less than 26 inches.
• SBRs, along with SBSs and AOWs, are not any more dangerous than any other firearm.
• The ATF reports that there are over 532,000 registered SBRs as of May 2021.
• SBRs include many rifles but the most popular SBRs are variants of the AR-15.
• Under the ATF's rule, any rifle with a stabilizing brace would de facto be designated an SBR and thus be subject to all NFA Regulations. This means the Biden Administration may be registering, taxing, and regulating as many as 40 million lawfully purchased pistols without the passage of a new law.

Short Barreled Shotgun Deregulation:

• An SBS is a shotgun that has a barrel length less than 18 inches or an overall length less than 26 inches.
• The ATF reports that there are over 162,000 registered SBSs as of May 2021.
• The SHORT Act would remove the unconstitutional “sporting use” requirement for shotguns, which allows ATF bureaucrats to arbitrarily regulate certain shotguns like explosives.

Any Other Weapon Deregulation:

• An AOW is an ambiguous catch-all term for firearms that do not fit neatly into the provided definitions. Without removing this definition, the ATF could abuse this statute to justify another ban on pistols. This is a crucial provision to end the attack on Americans’ Second Amendment rights.
• The ATF reports that there are over 67,000 registered AOWs as of May 2021.

Record Destruction:

• Additionally, the legislation would require the ATF destroy all records relating to the registration, transfer, or manufacture of these NFA firearms, preventing the ATF from further harassing owners or confiscating these firearms. Gun registration always leads to gun confiscation.