ATF Rule 2021R8 goes into effect January 31, 2023

I keep seeing a lot of speculation on this. Has something been released officially today? Thanks.

kje54 said:

This is supposed to be official, I provided the links for confirmation.

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Yes. I've seen those before. I just don't see the December 12th date. I'm sorry. I'll look again.

Those links are for the proposed rule change dated June 2021. We will have to wait and see what, if any changes have been made when the final change is published.

And yes we knew this was coming and we have also discussed this in depth in many threads here too,

It ain't official until the ATF publishes it on the Federal Register. Until then its speculation at best. After it is publish on the Federal Register we will have 120 days to come into compliance baring some special circumstances.

Been posted in here many times already, usually gets locked up. It’s all speculation at this point

kje54 said:

I was going with this statement:

"This proposed rule change was originally set to become effective in August 2022 but has been postponed and is now set to be released as a final rule December 28, 2022. Please click the link below to read the rule."
I took it as the new rule will be released on this date. If not then that's my bad.

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I believe it is still the ATF's intention to release a pistol-brace related ruling on or about December 28 2022. But a lot has happened both with comments and several related legal cases that likely have had an impact on what the ATF will do. So the proposed ruling shared in the OP post at one time may have been the ATF intentions but so much has happened since those are no longer reliable projections for what the Dec 28 ruling may or may not contain.

kje54 said:

"This proposed rule change was originally set to become effective in August 2022 but has been postponed and is now set to be released as a final rule December 28, 2022. Please click the link below to read the rule."
I took it as the new rule will be released on this date. If not then that's my bad.

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The bolded statement is not from the ATF. It's from your fist link which is to MAS Defense LLC, an on-line retailer. Absent any citation by them of an official source I think this has to be considered speculation on their part.

The only thing we know (and that is still not a sure thing) is that the ATF plans on publishing the rule change on or about 28 December 2022.

Other than that, we don't know what the final rule is since it has NOT been published yet.

All of the links that have been posted all over the internet on the proposed changes all date from June 2021.

Not trying to step on toes or upset anyone, but we have talked about this on the forum multiple times. We won't know what the actual rule change is until it is published.

12Bravo20 said:

The only thing we know (and that his still not a sure thing) is that the ATF plans on publishing the rule change on or about 28 December 2022.

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mcb said:

I believe it is still the ATF's intention to release a pistol-brace related ruling on or about December 28 2022.

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I have looked at the Federal Register for the proposed brace rule. It doesn't mention anything about December 28th. Other than the post on Mas Defense, I can't find anything about that date. And I am not going to go by them as a source for a rule change that is going to make millions of felons. Is there any credible source for December 28 or is it speculation from June 2021 still?

herrwalther said:

I have looked at the Federal Register for the proposed brace rule. It doesn't mention anything about December 28th. Other than the post on Mas Defense, I can't find anything about that date. And I am not going to go by them as a source for a rule change that is going to make millions of felons. Is there any credible source for December 28 or is it speculation from June 2021 still?

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And that is why I put "and that is still not a sure thing" in parenthesis because we still do not know the official date that it will be released.

12Bravo20 said:

The only thing we know (and that is still not a sure thing) is that the ATF plans on publishing the rule change on or about 28 December 2022.

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12Bravo20 said:

And that is why I put "and that is still not a sure thing" in parenthesis because we still do not know the official date that it will be released.

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Which is fine. I quoted you not to put pressure on you to give an answer, just to put emphasis on the date of when this rule might come down the pipeline.

Guns & Gadgets youtube channel read this from a filing awhile back...



SAF filed a lawsuit, this is a document from that suit.

Filing starts at 1:30min
at 3:03 ''agency currently expects'' date e.g. December 2022
6:30, filing additional and mentions Dec 28, 2022...

There after this youtuber infers that, the date of 12-28-22 is when the birdie drops the egg.

Separately , I do not see how any changes can be allowed to go into force without another comment period. If it has been changed significantly. Something others have mentioned here (THR) and elsewhere.

Plus the fact that even if your braced pistol passes according to the Worksheet 4999, the ATF can still say it is an unregistered SBR. Pay attention to the top of the Worksheet 4999 Notes section.



Again we do not know what the final rule will be since it has NOT been released yet. All of the links for the PROPOSED rule changes are from June 2021.

mcb said:

It ain't official until the ATF publishes it on the Federal Register. Until then its speculation at best. After it is publish on the Federal Register we will have 120 days to come into compliance baring some special circumstances.

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Where does this "120 days" figure come from? Can anyone provide a link to an official ATF statement that supports this?

The second link in the original post goes to the proposed rule, Factoring Criteria for Firearms With Attached "Stabilizing Braces". Section V is Options For Affected Persons - "As mentioned, ATF wants to assist affected persons or companies and is providing additional information to aid them in complying with Federal laws and regulations. Below are options for those persons that may be affected upon publication of a final rule."

Option (5) is to apply for an SBR tax stamp. Does anyone know (or have an educated guess based on past ATF experiences) if the 120 days quoted above means you have 120 days to fill out the form and send it in, and can then wait however long it takes to be approved? Presumably there will be a huge backlog and it may be many, many months before approval is granted. What is your status in the meantime? Can you still legally possess and take the gun out and shoot it, or is it in some kind of limbo?

Or do you have 120 days total to apply and get the approval, and after that you are in violation? Reason would say no because it would already be too late to do that, but reason doesn't necessarily enter into it.

The rulings by the ATF are not official until published in the Federal Register. I don't know if it is codified into law that it goes into effect 120 day later or that is just common practice but if you go to the Federal Register and read any of the recent ATF rulings they have all had an effective date 120 days after their published date. It might be different this time especially if they try some type of new entry into the NFA registries but no matter what they do I would still expect at least 120 days to come into compliance with whatever the new rules are, maybe longer.

ETA: This link is were we should see the new rules about braces published when they become official-> https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/alcohol-tobacco-firearms-and-explosives-bureau

mcb said:

The rulings by the ATF are not official until published in the Federal Register. I don't know if it is codified into law that it goes into effect 120 day later or that is just common practice but if you go to the Federal Register and read any of the recent ATF rulings they have all had an effective date 120 days after their published date. It might be different this time especially if they try some type of new entry into the NFA registries but no matter what they do I would still expect at least 120 days to come into compliance with whatever the new rules are, maybe longer.

ETA: This link is were we should see the new rules about braces published when they become official-> https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/alcohol-tobacco-firearms-and-explosives-bureau

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Thanks for the link.

I do not understand why this thread keeps going around and around. It is so darn confusing. It would be nice if and when a actual ruling/law is made so those with pistol braces would know exactly what is going on and what to do??

Rule3 said:

Thanks for the link.

I do not understand why this thread keeps going around and around. It is so darn confusing. It would be nice if and when a actual ruling/law is made so those with pistol braces would know exactly what is going on and what to do??

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I agree, lets get this finalized so we can do what needs to be done to be legal. I am just about out of subsonic hunting ammo for my 9-inch 300BO pistol and want to work up a new load for my 5-inch 300 BO. But I am not going to bother loading more until I am sure I am keeping them configured the way they are. Push comes to shove I go back to my 16-inch 300 BO but that takes a different load too...

I think this get bumped because there's a lot of people who own braces, and want a solid idea of what's going on. Nobody wants to be a felon, nobody wants to pay a fee to keep what they own, and likely 99% own a 16" rifle (or SBR) that could substitute for a serious home defense weapon.