(Washington) US authorities announced Friday to tighten the rules on “stabilizers” and other accessories used to transform pistols and revolvers into long guns, considered particularly dangerous.
Modified handguns will now be subject to the same regulations as “short-barreled shotguns” which since 1934 have been subject to heavier taxes and controls than other firearms, Attorney General Merrick Garland explained. during a press briefing.
At the time, lawmakers “understood that these weapons present a lethal combination: they are easier to conceal than rifles and more powerful than pistols”, he recalled.
But, “the arms industry has been trying for some time to circumvent federal laws by selling stabilizers that allow handguns to be converted into short-barreled rifles”, while escaping constraints, President Joe Biden pointed out. in a press release.
Handguns equipped with stabilizers were used in several killings, he recalled, citing the bloodbaths in Dayton, Ohio (9 deaths in 2019) and Boulder, Colorado (10 deaths in 2021).
According to the Justice Department, at least 3 million stabilizers have been sold since 2015. Owners now have 120 days to report them to authorities without paying tax.
They can also remove them from the weapons on which they have been installed or lengthen the barrel of these weapons to make them real rifles.
These regulations were first proposed in 2020, under the administration of Donald Trump, but were quickly withdrawn after the revolt of the firearms lobby and several elected Republicans. Merrick Garland reintroduced them in 2021.
On Friday, the Gun Owners of America lobby announced that it intended to take legal action to block the measure.