Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita on Thursday sued the Biden administration to challenge a recent rule by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that he says infringes on Hoosiers’ gun rights.
Specifically, the new ATF rule treats pistols equipped with stabilizing braces as short-barreled rifles subject to federal regulation. This policy contradicts more than a decade of agency practice, during which the ATF repeatedly assured manufacturers and the public that attaching a stabilizing brace to a pistol would not alter its regulatory or statutory classification.
Rokita
“As long as I’m attorney general, we will never willingly cede Hoosiers’ cherished liberties to the whims of federal bureaucrats,” Rokita said. “This is a clear case of overreach by the executive branch, and we fully expect to prevail in this lawsuit.”
Individuals with disabilities often rely on stabilizing braces to use their pistols. Others who benefit from the devices are those with below-average physical strength and beginners learning to use firearms.
The new federal regulations require anyone using pistols with stabilizing braces to provide their fingerprints to the ATF, be registered in a federal database and pay applicable taxes, among other things.
In addition to Indiana, 24 other states and various private businesses and individuals have joined in this lawsuit against the Biden administration. Rokita thanked West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey for his work organizing the multistate coalition.
“By standing together, the individual states can stop the federal government from riding roughshod over our people’s freedoms,” Rokita said. “Standing up to tyranny is a time-honored American tradition. It requires us not only to resist broad sweeping power grabs but also to combat the incremental chipping away of rights.”