Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, Connecticut's two Democratic U.S. Senators, are applauding the rejection of a resolution prompted by what is referred to by some politicians as the “pistol brace ban,” on Thursday.
The resolution was spearheaded by its House sponsor, Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., and largely supported by the GOP as it passed through the House and moved to the Senate floor.
If passed, the resolution would have overturned the Biden administration’s restrictions on the use of wrist stabilizing braces on pistols.
The regulation classifies pistols with stabilizing braces as short-barrel rifles, and outlines that individuals, gun manufacturers and dealers who modify their weapons in such a manner must comply with the far stricter rules and taxation of short-barrel rifles.
Blumenthal and Murphy both took the floor to lobby for the rejection prior to the vote.
Blumenthal encouraged fellow senators to continue President Biden’s gun safety legislation momentum after his appearance at the National Safer Communities Summit in Hartford on June 16.
“Now is no time for a step backwards. Now is no time to say to the President, ‘You can’t take this kind of common sense action under existing authority,’” Blumenthal said. “Now is the time to move forward with stronger legislation.”
Murphy, flanked by a poster comparing the original pistol brace concept and its contemporary use, discussed the role that gun manufacturers have played in the widespread sale of modifying braces for large format pistols, which, according to him, “has always been illegal.”
“Manufacturers capitalized on widespread ignorance of the law; expanding their stabilizing brace designed for disabled shooters and selling it as something that is intended to be fired from the shoulder by non-disabled individuals,” Murphy said.
The resolution was rejected by a vote of 49 to 50.
