(José Niño, Headline USA) In a move with sweeping implications for gun owners nationwide, the Justice Department has dropped a federal charge against Taylor Taranto for possessing a braced pistol, signaling a potential retreat from aggressive enforcement of the ATF’s controversial pistol brace rule.
🚨BREAKING🚨@theJusticeDept drops short-barreled RIFLE charge for possession of a CZ Scorpion equipped with a PISTOL brace in U.S. v. Taranto. https://t.co/6GcZxQRpAj pic.twitter.com/pC2xuQiDM6
— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) April 17, 2025
Taylor Taranto was arrested on June 28, 2023, following an incident in Washington, D.C., that began when he drove into the Kalorama neighborhood. This area is monitored by the Secret Service due to its proximity to prominent government figures, including former President Barack Obama.
Per court documents, Taranto had been livestreaming himself and exhibiting what authorities described as “erratic behavior,” allegedly suggesting he had outfitted his vehicle with a detonator. When approached by Secret Service agents, Taranto fled into nearby woods before being apprehended.
During a search of Taranto’s vehicle, law enforcement discovered a CZ Scorpion pistol equipped with a stabilizing brace and multiple magazines. This discovery led to two separate charges against Taranto for the same firearm:
- A local D.C. charge for carrying a pistol without a license
- A federal charge under the National Firearms Act (NFA) for possessing an unregistered short-barreled rifle
The case gained attention because it presented a peculiar legal contradiction: the government simultaneously claimed that the same firearm was both a pistol (for the D.C. licensing violation) and a rifle (for the federal NFA violation).
Stabilizing braces were originally designed to help disabled gun owners by allowing them to “brace” a handgun against their forearm, making it possible to shoot heavier firearms with one hand.
For years, the ATF approved these devices for use on pistols of various types, explicitly stating that attaching such accessories to handguns did not transform them into short-barreled rifles.
This position changed significantly under the Biden administration, which directed the ATF to target firearms equipped with pistol braces. In 2023, the ATF issued a new rule classifying most braced pistols as short-barreled rifles (SBR), which would require registration under the NFA. This reclassification potentially affected millions of firearms — estimates suggest up to 40 million braced pistols are in private ownership throughout the United States.
As Headline USA previously reported, the ATF’s pistol brace rule faced immediate legal challenges from several gun rights organizations, including Gun Owners of America (GOA) and the Firearms Regulatory Accountability Coalition (FRAC).
Multiple courts found the rule defective on various grounds, issuing injunctions against its enforcement. Ultimately, a federal judge in Texas vacated the rule entirely on June 13, 2024.
Despite these court rulings, Taranto’s case revealed that the DOJ continued pursuing NFA violations based on braced pistols. In court filings, DOJ lawyers argued: “ATF is not barred from continuing to enforce the underlying statute as it always has: by making case-by-case determinations about whether particular braced firearms constitute ‘rifles’ under the statute.”
Critics viewed this as an attempt to enforce the same policy that courts had rejected, simply through a different legal mechanism.
In April 2025, the DOJ filed a motion to dismiss the NFA charge against Taranto “in the interest of justice.” This motion came shortly after GOA and the FRAC sent a letter to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., urging them to reconsider the prosecution.
The charge was dismissed “without prejudice,” meaning the U.S. Attorney could potentially refile it before the statute of limitations expires. On top of that, Taranto still faces the D.C. charge of carrying a pistol without a license, which is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a $12,500 fine.
Headline USA reached out to National Association for Gun Rights President Dudley Brown for comment on this development.
The NAGR president declared, “This is a victory for 2A activists. For years the ATF made wildly fluctuating pronouncements on stabilizing braces, criminalizing millions of Americans with the stroke of a bureaucrat’s pen. Now, it seems the Trump administration is listening to gun owners and the US Constitution.”
While the dismissal represents a clear victory for gun rights supporters, the future of pistol brace regulation remains uncertain, with further legal and political battles likely on the horizon.
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
