Pistol braces are something that a lot of people put on their AR pistols as a default. After all, an AR pistol isn’t something that you can shoot like your Glock or 1911. A little assistance makes perfect sense.

But that assistance is now a problem because of what one jackwagon did–one of out probably millions who own such weapons with the braces. Sure. Makes perfect sense.

Now, the ATF is proposing a ban on the braces. The problem is that, for some people, those braces are the difference between shooting and not shooting.

Rick Cicero has spent his entire life out on the gun range.

…

Cicero lost his right arm and leg in an explosion when serving in Afghanistan 11 years ago.

“Getting that skill back—it reinvigorates you. And it helps to maintain a bit of confidence that you’re still able to do something,” said Cicero.

He’s still able to shoot today, in large part thanks to the pistol stabilizing brace.

“This platform exists specifically for the purpose of giving someone the ability to slide their forearm through this base right here and safely grip that firearm and control it in a safe manner,” said Cicero.

The pistol stabilizing brace was designed to help people with physical disabilities hold and shoot a gun accurately but has since proven to help teach safety and accuracy to people without them.

Now, the federal government is considering limiting access, or even completely doing away with the brace out of concern it makes a pistol too much like a rifle, and violates the short-barreled gun laws.

But Cicero says passing a law like that would violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.

I’m not sure the ATF actually cares about the Americans with Disabilities Act when it comes to something like this, but Cicero isn’t wrong. The pistol brace allows a lot of amputees to be able to exercise their Second Amendment rights. That’s something that will become a whole lot more difficult if the pistol brace ban is put in place.

And remember, this really all stems from what happened in the Boulder shooting, where the killer had such braces on his pistols, basically using them as short barrel rifles without the tax stamp.

What the ATF isn’t considering, though, is that if someone is planning an atrocity like that, what’s really going to stop them from slapping a stock on an AR pistol? I mean, it’s not that difficult to do since all the parts needed are really just replacement parts for standard rifles. So why would they think banning pistol braces would deter someone who plans mass murder?

That’s what I’ve never really gotten. They’ll ban this without really considering whether it will actually do anything.

Meanwhile, a lot of disabled people, many of them veterans, will basically be left in a lurch.

I know the ATF would actually prefer it if none of us exercise our Second Amendment rights, but we’re going to. It should be their job to enable that, not hinder it.

Of course, that’s not likely to happen under the current presidential administration, now is it?