The ATF pistol brace rule is no longer in effect. A federal district court vacated it in June 2024, and the Department of Justice dismissed its appeal on July 17, 2025. Under current federal law, attaching a stabilizing brace to a pistol does not turn it into a short-barreled rifle, and owners do not have to register a braced pistol under the National Firearms Act.1Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Information Regarding Pending NFA Forbearance Applicants Submitted Pursuant to the Vacated Final Rule 2021R-08F Pertaining to Stabilizing Braces
What the Vacatur Means for Braced Pistol Owners
You can keep a stabilizing brace on your pistol. You do not need to file a Form 1. You do not need to remove the brace, swap in a 16-inch barrel, or surrender the firearm. The ATF itself now refers to the regulation as the “Vacated Final Rule 2021R-08F” on its own website.1Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Information Regarding Pending NFA Forbearance Applicants Submitted Pursuant to the Vacated Final Rule 2021R-08F Pertaining to Stabilizing Braces
The rule, signed on January 13, 2023, and effective January 31, 2023, had reclassified pistols with stabilizing braces as short-barreled rifles when the ATF judged the design suitable for shoulder firing. The 120-day compliance window closed May 31, 2023. All of that is history now.
If You Filed a Form 1 During the Compliance Window
If you registered a braced pistol during the 2023 compliance period and your Form 1 is still pending, the ATF is giving you a choice. You can withdraw the application or let the ATF process it.
Electronic filers can withdraw through the eForms system. Paper filers can email SBF1Question@atf.gov. The deadline is November 10, 2025. If the ATF has not heard from you by then, it will start processing the registration on November 11.1Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Information Regarding Pending NFA Forbearance Applicants Submitted Pursuant to the Vacated Final Rule 2021R-08F Pertaining to Stabilizing Braces
For most owners, withdrawal is the sensible move because there is no longer any legal requirement to register a braced pistol. One exception: if you modified the firearm during the compliance period by swapping the brace for a traditional buttstock while your registration was pending, that firearm is a genuine short-barreled rifle regardless of what happened to the brace rule, and you may want to let the registration go through.
How the Rule Was Struck Down
Two federal appellate courts found challengers were likely to win, and a district court ultimately vacated the rule.
In Mock v. Garland, the Fifth Circuit reversed a district court’s denial of a preliminary injunction and held that the rule “must be set aside as unlawful or otherwise remanded for appropriate remediation.”2United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Mock v. Garland – Opinion on ATF Pistol Brace Rule On remand, the Northern District of Texas vacated the rule entirely in June 2024.
A separate case brought by the Firearms Regulatory Accountability Coalition reached a similar result in the Eighth Circuit, which found the coalition was “likely to succeed on the merits of its arbitrary-and-capricious challenge.”3United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Firearms Regulatory Accountability Coalition Inc. v. Garland
On July 17, 2025, the DOJ and the plaintiffs filed a joint stipulation dismissing the government’s appeal in what had become Mock v. Bondi. That ended federal defense of the rule.
What Still Counts as a Short-Barreled Rifle
The end of the brace rule does not repeal the National Firearms Act. A rifle with a barrel under 16 inches is still a short-barreled rifle,4Legal Information Institute. 18 USC 921(a)(8) – Short-Barreled Rifle5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5861 – Prohibited Acts6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5871 – Penalties
What the courts settled is that a stabilizing brace is not a buttstock, so attaching one to a short-barreled pistol does not make the firearm a rifle. Attach an actual shoulder stock to a short-barreled pistol, though, and you have built an SBR that needs to be registered.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5845 – Definitions
State law is a separate layer. A handful of states restrict or ban civilian possession of short-barreled rifles even for owners who have fully complied with federal NFA requirements, and some states regulate braced pistols independently of federal classification. Check your state’s rules before building or buying.
Could a New Pistol Brace Rule Come Back
The DOJ and ATF have said they intend to “revisit the regulatory framework surrounding stabilizing braces.”8Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. DOJ, ATF Repeal FFL Inspection Policy and Begin Review of Two Final Rules That language could mean cleanup of what remains of the old rule, or it could mean an entirely new rulemaking.
Any future regulation would face a tougher legal environment than the ATF encountered in 2023. The Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo eliminated Chevron deference, so courts no longer defer to an agency’s reasonable interpretation of an ambiguous statute. A new ATF rule redefining what qualifies as a short-barreled rifle would be interpreted by courts independently rather than with a thumb on the agency’s side of the scale. That does not make a new rule impossible, but it raises the bar.
For now, the rule is dead, braced pistols are legal, and the only action item for most owners is deciding what to do with a pending Form 1 before November 10, 2025.