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WGO Submits Commentary on DOJ Pistol Brace and Red Flag Rules

| June 10, 2021 | 0 Comments

RE: WGO Comments to the DOJ on Proposed Stabilizing Brace and Red Flag Standardization Rule ATF 2021R-08 

To whom it may concern, 

Wisconsin Gun Owners, Inc. (WGO) and its members strongly oppose the Department of Justice’s proposed rule on stabilizing braces and pre-written red flag legislation. This rule attempts to allow an investigatory agency to sidestep the legislature, redefine terms, and create regulation without legislative oversight or approval.  

 I want to start with a quote by James Madison, one of our most esteemed Founders:  

“It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood.” 

 The proposed rule would infringe on the historical ability of law-abiding American citizens to use stabilizing braces and own AR-15/AK-47-style pistols. These pistols, even with braces, do not and should not fall under the definition of short-barreled rifles. These firearms are also ubiquitous in use, and the rule would severely harm veterans and disabled enthusiasts disproportionately and bar them from participating in the protected activities of the Second Amendment.  

 ATF 2021R-08 unconstitutionally exercises power to change the meaning of the GCA and NFA by modifying the qualifiers of what is and is not included in the laws. Expanding the purview of law is writing law. It would also create uncertainty for citizens and make their popular and widely used firearms — historically lawful firearms — subjects of paranoia for the millions of AR-15 and AK-47 pistol and brace owners.   

 This rule would only cause more confusion, which the GCA and NFA are already confusing and cumbersome enough. Laws so complex and voluminous are tell-tale signs of government slipping into tyranny. Especially when those laws are subject to being changed at a whim by executive agencies. 

 This rule would have a chilling effect on the Second Amendment and would also create unwanted and unnecessary harassment of citizens by the ATF. The DOJ’s purview over enforcement does not include changing the meaning of the law, which is happening here. This rule would betray the separation of powers, which is integral to maintaining a free Republic. We are a Republic and not an administrative state. ATF testing firearms does not make these rules any less intrusive, arbitrary and unconstitutional. Moreover, creating default and adoptable red-flag legislation is participating in the destruction of due process, a Constitutionally prescribed inalienable right, and should fall only under the platform of dystopian science fiction and not governmental procedure.  

In conclusion, we at WGO believe this is just more evidence of lawlessness on behalf of the federal government and we will oppose this rule vehemently.  

 Sincerely, 

Thomas C. Leager 

Executive Director 

Wisconsin Gun Owners, Inc.

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