The Ultimate Firearms Destination for the Gun Lifestyle

Punishment for Good Behavior

By now the news has broke that the ATF is moving to re-classify pistols with Stabilizing Braces as NFA items or something that falls under the Gun Control Act. This news has come at the end of the year where a single constant theme has taken place regarding the relationship between the citizens of the United States, and their Government. The choice of the ATF, at this time, includes a benevolent clause, and an opportunity for Citizens who want to keep their legally purchased and owned firearms: in order to hold on to them for a little while longer, they merely need to register them. Welcome to Punishment for Good Behavior

punishment for good behavior

The argument over the difference between these two is the distraction. The argument over who gets to choose is the real problem: is it free people, or unelected bureaucrats?

Punishment for Good Behavior

The act of registration itself does look harmless from the outside. If people are good and law abiding, what do they have to lose if they register their firearms? The answers are simple, and straightforward: first, citizens who legally own these firearms will live their lives under the constant threat of surveillance equal to, if not greater than, violent felons after incarceration. Second, the act of registration will be a constant knife at the throats of law abiding citizens, placing them at the mercy of people they may or may not elect to represent them. Third, and most personal: good luck trying to pass your firearms to the next generation. Grandpa's half-accurate recreation of his deployment rifle from the GWOT is going back to the government.

These three factors should set the tone for what it as play. It is a message to the people: You will receive punishment for good behavior. For the last decade and beyond, Americans have chosen to act in accordance with the law. They have chosen to buy pistols, and not make illegal SBR's. They have chosen to register their Short Barreled Rifles, and submit a Form 1 if they turn a pistol into an SBR. The have chosen pay their taxes in money, and also give up something more valuable: their time, as the ATF drags its feet in paperwork.

punishment for good behavior

If the ATF is permitted to make one arbitrary distinction, what's to stop another?

Punishment for Our Virtues

The punishment for good behavior is new regulations, new classifications, new raids on law-abiding companies, and new registrations. In the most recent ATF letter concerning reclassification, they make it clear that they plan to implement an expedited registration system, shortening the waiting period one has had to endure for decades. A carrot for those willing to play by the new rules: you don't have to wait as long for them to collect your information for long term storage. The stick? That's pretty obvious.

Writings throughout history have noted that one of the fastest ways to destroy a person or people is to punish them for their virtues. Something that is considered a virtue to many gun owners, is remaining on the good side of the law. In past years, private citizens have considered a permit to carry to be the demarcation between “good” and “bad” in regards to carrying a concealed pistol. Have your papers? You're good to go.

punishment for good behavior

Register now for a chance to loose everything.

Another case of this, is when people complete a firearm in their home. If they are building it for their own personal use, whatever that be, so long as it's legal, then it is sanctioned. Whether a father of four is building replica flintlocks in his garage as a hobby, or a younger enthusiast is learning machining by finishing an 80% lower, so long as neither are selling their finished firearms, most people recognize this as within the law, and an exercise of both their right to bear arms, and their prerogative to pursue happiness.

This latest action of the ATF is not directed at punishing crimes which create victims, but to punish the very people who have complied with the changing laws over the years. The very people who have approached this situation in good faith will be the ones who suffer the most for it. The newest proposal by the ATF regarding the registration of Pistol Braces is Punishment for Good Behavior.

Find Out What You Can Do Now, HERE. Time is Short.


More on Pistol Braces, 80% frames, and the ATF

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4 responses to “Punishment for Good Behavior”

  1. cream man says:

    Yo this is the first comment.

  2. LCES says:

    I don’t see this as punishment for good behavior, but rather regulation catching up with creative industry. The market is flooded with SBRs masquerading as AR pistols to circumvent the stamp and registration.

    • LCES says:

      *as of 31 Dec 2020, bATF has withdrawn the notice.

    • polaroidshooter says:

      I have to respectfully disagree. If you read the letter which has withdrawn by aft later. There is no clear definition about how they define what is a brace and what is a stock. It was clear, however, in the letter the intent of atf to make the definition of the brace as vague as possible, therefore the agency will interpreted it anyway they see fit. While you can say “you can suit them in court”, does any single individual who could fight a government agency which has almost unlimited resources?

      By the way, NFA in itself is an infringement IMHO.

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