There is no denying that Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, is a devout supporter of strict gun control measures and fully backed the Biden-Harris administration's efforts to infringe upon and limit the Second Amendment-protected rights of gun owners.

That certainly includes her endorsement of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives 2023 "Final Rule" on pistol stabilizing braces that defined virtually all brace-equipped weapons as heavily regulated "short-barreled rifles" -- an ATF rule that has now been deemed unlawful by yet another federal court, according to the Daily Caller.

On Friday, an Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled that a district court erred in not granting a preliminary injunction against the ATF's pistol brace rule that plaintiffs in a lawsuit would likely succeed in proving was promulgated in an "arbitrary and capricious" manner.

The ATF's pistol brace rule

In 2021, shortly after the Biden-Harris administration came into power, the ATF announced its intent to change the rules about stabilizing braces and, despite intense negative pushback and around a decade of prior advisories stating otherwise, finalized a rule in 2023 that essentially reclassified virtually all brace-equipped weapons as "short-barreled rifles," which are heavily regulated under the National Firearms Act of 1934 and the Gun Control Act of 1968.

The ATF pistol brace rule prompted multiple lawsuits, including one known as Firearms Regulatory Accountability Coalition, Inc. v. Garland, which involved the gun rights group, companies that manufacture braces and weapons, an individual brace-equipped gun owner, and a coalition of 25 Republican-led states, all of whom were supported in the legal endeavor by the National Rifle Association.

Those plaintiffs had called for a preliminary injunction to block enforcement of the new rule -- violators could be imprisoned for up to 10 years and fined $10,000 -- but, unfortunately, a federal district court in North Dakota rejected their arguments and allowed the ATF's new rule to be enforced.

ATF rule is "arbitrary and capricious," injunction should be issued

However, on appeal, the Eighth Circuit panel determined in a 33-page opinion that the district court erred in not fully examining all of the factors involved in a request for a preliminary injunction of a federal agency's rule, and as such reversed the lower court's ruling and remanded the case back to the same court for reconsideration.

At issue in the case was the plaintiffs' assertion that the ATF exceeded its statutory authority, that its multifactor test to determine whether a brace-equipped weapon violated the NFA was vague and unexplained, and that a similarly unexplained pair of slideshows that adjudged virtually all brace-equipped weapons as "short-barreled rifles" was "arbitrary and capricious" under the Administrative Procedures Act that governs agency rule-making.

On all of the plaintiffs' arguments, the circuit court agreed that the ATF rule was "arbitrary and capricious," that they were likely to ultimately prevail on the merits, and that the district court should have issued the requested preliminary injunction.

Eighth Circuit "correctly reined in unlawful rulemaking by the ATF"

In a Friday press release, the NRA celebrated the "significant victory" it had won against the Biden-Harris ATF's pistol brace rule that would result in an injunction to block enforcement of the rule.

This was actually the second win scored by the NRA against the ATF's rule, as a district court in Texas previously ruled in a separate but related case, NRA v. ATF, in favor of a narrow preliminary injunction that blocked enforcement of the rule against NRA members.

In a statement to the Daily Caller, NRA Institute for Legislative Action Executive Director Randy Kozuch said, "Once again, the judicial branch has correctly reined in unlawful rulemaking by the ATF," and added, "The NRA is proud to support this challenge brought by FRAC and SB Tactical to further protect the Second Amendment rights of peaceable Americans."

GOP legislation to repeal ATF rule

The Daily Caller noted that while the courts have effectively blocked enforcement of the ATF's pistol brace rule with multiple injunctions from multiple district and circuit courts, there is also a Republican-led effort in Congress to legislatively repeal the rule and remove it from the books altogether.

Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) previously said in a statement about that legislation, "This rule is a blatant overreach by the ATF and jeopardizes the rights of law-abiding gun owners, including disabled veterans across the country."