With all this talk about the ATF’s pistol brace opinion reversal, I got to thinking, has the arm brace become the gun equivalent of the vape?

Yes. It has.

Sure, pistol braces have a place in the world, I am not gonna dispute that at all. Some people don’t want the hassle of sending a notification to ATF about taking an SBR into another state when traveling and those who legitimately need the brace to be able to shoot an AR pistol, there is nothing wrong with that at all. Do I care if you are cheeking, shouldering, or keestering your brace? Nope. Enjoy your brace as you see fit, just don’t break the law and don’t be a jerk about it.

Where my and many others get a bit annoyed when it comes to the topic is the jack wagons that feel the need to scream from the mountain tops that the brace is a way around NFA laws. There is no reason to use a good thing to thumb your nose at the ATF. None.

The small percentage of what I like to call ‘bro shooters’ are the group of people that have turned any conversation about the brace into an annoyance on par with those bros that vape in a hospital, and when confronted reply with “Relax bro, it’s just vapor.”

With many of the shooters that I know and others that I have talked to, feelings about stabilizer enthusiasts seem to be shared by most. Heck, even recent comments on Nick C.’s article where he gathered several determination letters from the ATF in regards to braces echo this sentiment. You can read that post here, but the comments really echoed the same message, to stop talking about the legalities of the brace and quit poking the bear.

Can we all just agree to leave the legalities to those with the background to properly interpret them and use some common sense? Not only would it be for the good of the industry, but it also annoys people a whole lot less.

Also, if the words “Relax bro, it’s just a brace” come out of your mouth, you might be the problem.