ATF Director Robert Cekada Talks About His Feelings on Pistol Braces
Colion Noir had a candid sit down with our current Director of the ATF and I saw both good and bad things from the interview. It was refreshing to hear Cekada admit that even he purchased and owned pistol braced carbines with the understanding that they were lawful to own and shoulder while unmodified.
He explained that the previous administration disagreed with his stance that the type of firearm you choose to own should not have any bearing on premeditation or how the courts view you and an involved party to an incident or investigation.
He stood by the most robust “in the manner of its use” approach to arms and it was good to see a de-politicized take on firearms ownership from someone in his position. He also stated that they have no plans to pursue individuals for mere ownership of pistol braces and will only look into the classification of a gun when they are involved in other criminal activity. However, he did explain that his office can be directed by the US Attorney's office to classify arms brought to them from either a search warrant or other seizure and they would be compelled to apply the law as it’s written.
This is how an enforcement agency is supposed to work so it is a step up from previous ATFs who WAY stepped out of bounds and tried to rewrite the laws through rules changes, but still doesn’t provide any clarity on pistol brace rules or criteria. It is still my personal belief that law enforcement agencies, being sworn to uphold the constitution, should push back on enforcing laws that have clear constitutionality issues. That being said, Cekada’s posture of honoring the edicts of the courts or magistrates above his agency falls in line with how that relationship is supposed to work going all the way back to the founding of this nation.
Gun Owners Win Big in the Courts
Gun Owners of America announced two huge wins this week. The first was in their case against the ATF’s “final rule” that aimed to change the definition of “engaged in the business” having it completely vacated. This lawsuit was in reaction to the murder of Brian Malinowski who died in a raid over this very issue.
Since the APA vacator was not party restricted, the ATF cannot apply the “Final Rule” to anyone per the documents associated with the case.
The second big win this week was the US v Hemani case. The TLDR of this case is, possession or use of a illicit substance should not have an effect on your second amendment rights. We got a 9-0 decision out of the supreme court upholding the "shall not be infringed" part of the second amendment.
This case law will have a HUGE effect on all 50 states laws surrounding the carrying of a weapon while using or carrying what the state considers to be a dangerous drug. The good news is the argument came based on the opinion that the right to self defense is self evident and it's incumbent on the state to support that not restrict it.
First Factory FRT Enabled Rifle | The One Horse Express
In SUPER cool news in the forced reset technology world, One Horse Firearms has partnered with Atrius Development Group to launch the first ever, OEM Forced reset enabled firearm in the OHX or “One Horse Express".
This, hopefully the first of many iterations, takes all of the guest work out of tuning or fitting forced reset technology into an AR system. Anyone who has dabbled in FRTs and FRSs knows that like cans, there is often A LOT of tweaking required to get them to run properly. This provides a true plug and play opportunity to end users.
ALSO similar to pistol braces, a factory offering I believe puts us on the path to more of a “in common use for lawful purposes” argument as well as opening the door for other platforms to do the same (PDW manufacturers I’m looking at you).
For around $1K, this initial run will be 16in ARs with a mid length gas system with a ??? twist rate, chambered in 5.56, and equipped with an H2 buffer. The inclusion of the slightly beefier SOCOM barrel profile and an M16 bolt leads me to believe they are indeed designed to handle the more intense firing schedule potential end users will subject these guns to so I’m optimistic to see how these run out in the wild.
For those of you who prefer listening but don't like Youtube, here is the Rumble link
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