Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Thursday the Justice Department’s intention to regulate high-powered pistols because they are “concealable.”
The moment: Garland addressed the public on new executive-branch gun control measures sparked by a mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado, during which the shooter used a Ruger-made AR-style pistol.
- “We will make clear that statutory restrictions on short barreled rifles apply when certain stabilizing braces are added to high-powered pistols,” Garland said. “Federal law requires the taxation and registration of all short barreled rifles. It does so because these weapons are powerful yet easily concealable.”
- “Currently however, some manufacturers market and some individuals purchase certain kinds of stabilizing braces that when attached to a pistol effectively convert it into a short-barreled rifle, a weapon that is in the words of the statute, ‘intended to be fired from the shoulder,'” he added. “Such braces make high powered pistols more stable and accurate while still concealable.”
The gun: Video posted to social media showed a “concealable” AR-style pistol in action.
- The gun used by Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, the Boulder shooter, was more than two feet in total length, per Ruger’s specifications.
- Meanwhile, conservative and gun rights commentators mocked Garland’s assertion that an AR-style pistol is “concealable.”
- “I can’t stop laughing,” tweeted social media guru Caleb Hull.
Context: President Joe Biden made gun control a top priority during his campaign, and fears of impending regulation have fueled gun sales in the wake of his inauguration.
- Some business owners have also pointed to consumers’ extra cash from stimulus checks as a sales driver.
- “They’ve got the extra money and people go indulge themselves with something they can’t normally afford,” said Justin Anderson, marketing director of Hyatt Guns in Charlotte, North Carolina. “Some people want a car. Some people want a gun.”
