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What you need to know about Pistol Braces
05/19/2022
What you need to know about Pistol Braces
What are pistol braces?
Originally developed by SB Tactical’s Alex Bosco, after shooting at a range with a disabled veteran, stabilizing braces or “pistol braces” were designed to be worn on the arm to brace or help better stabilize a shooter’s firearm. The stabilizing brace features a velcro strap that loops around the shooter's arm which fastens down for stability while holding the pistol with one hand. The invention led to a great middle ground for shooters between SBR's and full length rifles.
Because of the design, many people began to shoulder their pistol brace firearms. This would lead to some confusion on the legality of shouldering an AR pistol and had many wondering if this would define AR pistols as SBR’s. We'll touch more on that later.
SBR vs Pistol
Before we jump into the current situation with pistol braces, it is important to define the difference between a Short-Barreled Rifle (SBR) and an AR15 Pistol.
Defined by the ATF, a rifle having a barrel or barrels of less than 16 inches in length with a buttstock, is classified as an SBR. You can customize your SBR however you like by adding vertical foregrips and different adjustable stocks. Like silencers, you will need to go through the NFA process to purchase and own an SBR. Previously, wait times were up to and over a year.
An AR pistol is any AR-15 with a barrel length of under 16 inches with a stabilizng brace/pistol brace. These are not allowed to have vertical grips. An AR pistol can be purchased the same as any 16” rifle, with no NFA regulations. Most consumers in the industry opt for the AR pistol due to the ease of purchase and cost.
In short: the difference between an SBR and AR pistol is the stabilizing brace vs the buttstock.
Current status and what this means for pistol braces
In a 2014 letter by ATF, it was determined that shouldering a pistol brace would not make it an SBR. It would still be classified as a pistol. This statement would lead to some back and forth (3 times total...don't you hate when someone can't make up their mind) on the ATF’s stance on pistol braces. Ultimately agreeing that shouldering a pistol does not make your AR pistol an SBR, meaning shooters were able to continue to shoulder their pistol braces legally.
That is, until June of 2021, when the ATF proposed rule 2021R-08, “Factoring Criteria for Firearms with Attached ‘Stabilizing Braces.’” The ATF’s new proposed regulation offers to determine when a “rifle” is intended to be fired from the shoulder.” If implemented, this new regulation would mean that any rifled barreled weapon attached with a stabilizing brace (pistol brace) and can be fired from the shoulder would be classified as a “rifle.”
This would mean all existing and new AR pistols with stabilizing braces would have to become SBR’s or be removed/destroyed. Consumers all over would have to remove their stabilizing braces from their AR pistols or register their pistols as SBR's to abide by NFA regulations, or risk breaking Federal law. 😱
The ATF had previously had an open "comment section" where users could let their voices be heard about their proposed reclassification. After just 90 days, it had amassed over 209,000 comments (mostly opposing the proposal). The period to leave a comment has since ended.
The current status on pistol braces is still up in the air as we await the ATF’s decision which should be coming in June-August 2022.
Keep using those braces until then!
The point system
To help gun owners determine whether their AR pistols would move into SBR territory, the ATF came out with a points system.
Basically, the ATF created this list to grade your pistol on weight, length, attachment of a brace, optics, and accessories like hand stops. If you score a certain number of points, your firearm will fall under the SBR definition, and by law, will need to be regulated by the NFA.
If you can’t tell by now, the system seems inherently rigged against AR pistols.
