The Firearms and Ammunition Technology Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) has closed the so-called Sig brace “SBR loophole,” and they've done so less than 72 hours before the single largest firearms related event in North America.

Is the timing a coincidence? Personally I doubt it. SHOT Show 2015 begins with Media Day at the Range on Monday. You can bet there are (or would have been) a lot of Sig braces out there. As Russell Phagan recently opined, I'm betting there is the hope of some enforcement action next week during the show. Surprising? No. Irritating and a flip-flop? Yes.

If you're in the industry at all, take a look at what's in your booth, on the range, in your marketing materials, etc. You may not have a problem, but why tempt fate?

What's really awesome about the BATFE is the fact that somewhere a government functionary, either an appointee or the employee of an appointee, is acting as a de facto law maker. Now, as I understand it, that's typically the job of the legislative branch…isn't it? Am I oversimplifying things?

Think maybe we'd have a different BATFE if the dude running it was an elected official directly answerable to the citizenry (including of course firearms owners) instead of to a frequently inept, ever anti-gun, usually out of touch oligarchy? Think things would be more pragmatic and consistent? Less arbitrary and capricious?

This is why we can't have nice things.

These items are intended to improve accuracy by using the operator’s forearm to provide stable support for the AR-type pistol. ATF has previously determined that attaching the brace to a firearm does not alter the classification of the firearm or subject the firearm to National Firearms Act (NFA) control. However, this classification is based upon the use of the device as designed.When the device is redesigned for use as a shoulder stock on a handgun with a rifled barrel under 16 inches in length, the firearm is properly classified as a firearm under the NFA. The pistol stabilizing brace was neither “designed” nor approved to be used as a shoulder stock, and therefore use as a shoulder stock constitutes a “redesign” of the device because a possessorhas changed the very function of the item. Any individual letters stating otherwise are contrary to the plain language of the NFA, misapply Federal law, and are hereby revoked…Any person who intends to use a handgun stabilizing brace as a shoulder stock on a pistol (having a rifled barrel under 16 inches in length or a smooth bore firearm with a barrel under 18 inches in length) must first file an ATF Form 1 and pay the applicable tax because the resulting firearm will be subject to all provisions of the NFA.

You can read the whole thing right here.

Hat tip to Personal Defense Network and Sinistral Rifleman.

More about it over on Gear Scout.

Some background on AR 15 pistols: