David Chipman, gun ban advocate and would-be director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, testified before a Senate committee today as part of his confirmation process, and his statements demonstrated exactly the kind of anti-gun attitude the gun-rights community fears.
Chipman currently serves as a senior policy advisor for the gun-control group Giffords, and his history of anti-gun statements have earned the ire of the National Rifle Association, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, and Gun Owners of America, along with most Republican senators.
During the course of the three-hour confirmation hearing, Chipman was by turns praised by Democrats and grilled by Republicans, who asked the nominee about his stance on the Second Amendment and his support of a ban on AR-type rifles, among other things.
“The AR-15 is one of, if not the, most popular rifles in America,” Sen. Ted Cruz asked. “Your public position is you want to ban AR-15s, is that correct?”
“With respect to the AR-15, I support a ban as has been presented in a Senate bill and supported by the president,” Chipman responded. “The AR-15 is a gun I was issued on ATF’s SWAT team and it is a particularly lethal weapon, and regulating it as other particularly lethal weapons I have advocated for.”
SEE ALSO: Here’s Why NRA, NSSF Oppose David Chipman for ATF Director
As GunsAmerica has reported previously, Chipman said during a 2019 hearing in the House Judiciary Committee that it is “simply unacceptable that military-style and high-power weapons are so readily available to citizens today and contribute to the loss of lives.”
AR- and AK-pistols “weren’t used in war” but were “developed to kill people here domestically,” he continued. “I don’t know any common gun owners who look to that as a great self-defense weapon, but they fire rounds that leave devastating wounds.”
Sen. Josh Hawley pointed out that Chipman has worked for a variety of gun-control groups, and this previous work indicates a “clear policy bias.”
“How can America’s hundreds of millions of law-abiding gun owners have confidence that you won’t try to restrict their Second Amendment rights? What assurances can you give them that you will limit your efforts to criminals who misuse weapons?” Hawley asked.
In response, Chipman fell back on a line he used repeatedly throughout the hearing: “I’ll enforce the laws on the books.”
In just the past 24 months, however, the ATF has worked to both write and enforce the laws by unilaterally changing regulations governing “ghost guns,” arm braces, and bump stocks. The ATF has never been shy about attempting to “clarify” federal gun-control laws by reversing their previously held interpretations.
Gun-rights groups are sounding the alarm. GOA’s Director of Federal Affairs, Aidan Johnston, pointed out on Twitter that Chipman’s answer to Sen. John Cornyn’s question shows his contempt for law-abiding gun owners.
SEE ALSO: Who is David Chipman, Biden’s New Head of the ATF?
Sen. @JohnCornyn asked “is a law abiding gun owner a threat to public safety?”@davidchipman‘s first response was to point out that law abiding gun owners can “go on to commit violent crime[s]”
— Aidan Johnston (@RealGunLobbyist) May 26, 2021
That’s the lens through which this @ATFHQ Director Nominee views @gunowners pic.twitter.com/Kabyjxi2XJ
The National Rifle Association tweeted Chipman’s worst comments throughout the hearing, and they highlighted Sen. Chuck Grassley’s statement about Chipman’s clear anti-gun bias.
“Many see putting a committed gun control proponent, like David Chipman, in charge of ATF… is like putting Antifa in charge of the Portland police department.” –Sen. @ChuckGrassley #OpposeChipman pic.twitter.com/FTW2mcW6Gq
— NRA (@NRA) May 26, 2021
Gun-control groups are over the moon to have one of their own in charge of the nation’s top firearm law enforcement agency.
Everytown and Moms Demand Action put out a press release reiterating their support for Chipman and, strangely, connecting his confirmation hearing to a recent mass murder in California.
“The fact that David Chipman’s nomination hearing was occurring just as we’re learning about the mass shooting in San Jose shows how critical it is that we act on gun safety,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action. “It has never been more urgent for the ATF to have a permanent leader, and the Senate should move quickly to confirm David Chipman. He’s dedicated his entire career serving the public, combating violent crime, and working to make our communities safer, and is the right person to lead the ATF at a time of rising gun injuries and deaths.”
The Democrats are working with a razor-thin majority to confirm Chipman, who recently made his Twitter account private in anticipation of his confirmation hearing. With the Senate split 50-50, they cannot afford to lose any Democratic votes if they want Vice President Kamala Harris to cast the tiebreaker. That assumes, of course, that all Republicans hold firm, which is anything but certain.
IN 2017, the most recent FBI stats I could find, 10% of all murders committed with firearms were committed via a “rifle”, ALL forms of rifles. To single out one “rifle” as the gun that must be prohibited is to ignore that more people were killed with knives than rifles in that year.
GOD I hope he and BY DONE and fake VICE PRES. come to FLORIDA FIRST we are all ready to comply we all want to become sheep.This is all because the people in power can’t control us it’s all about GREED,MONEY,POWER AND CONTROL OF THE PEOPLE TO BOW TO YOUR WHIMS. YOU HAVE PISSED IN YOUR CORN FLAKES.
In 1775 they tried to take our guns… We shot them! The only thing this administration is succeeding at is driving this country towards civil war. This administration has failed to realize one important aspect of their agenda to destroy America and that is what are you going to do about all of the surviving veterans who fought for freedom and took an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution from all enemies foreign and
—> DOMESTIC <— ?
The guy said he didn’t know of ANY common gun owners who thought the AR and AK pistols were good self defense tools. Well I’m about as common as they come and IMHO a SUPPRESSED AR pistol in .300 Blackout loaded with subs would be just about the best home defense weapon I can think of. They’re accurate, intuitive, effective, have sufficient capacity, and with a can attached you might be able to communicate with your family or hear the police say, “Put down that weapon!” should the unfortunate situation occur where you were forced to discharge said weapon inside your home. We’re already in for trouble, if this guy gets confirmed, the trouble multiplies exponentially. Please, y’all contact your senators—NOW!
I find it interesting that yet another gun grabber just blithely supports taking lawfully owned firearms from anyone they see fit. 2nd Amendment? We do need no stinking 2nd Amendment!
They assume we will just obligingly turn our weapons over to them without a whimper. “Gee Mr Fudpucker, please take my evil guns from me!”
Yeah right. Maybe some will crawl to the man and give up their rights just because he said he’d do mean things. Mean things can go both ways. Be careful what you demand. Your demands may be too injurious, which will cause the people to rise up and “smite thee”.
I’d ask why people just won’t leave us alone. It doesn’t really matter to them. It’s in their genes, which goes back all the way to ancient Egypt and Rome. Peons shall not have a means by which they can resist the government’s demands. ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
A arfcommer made a statement that is burned into my mind.
“If they come at me first there’ll be fewer coming for you” that should be our anthem!
Was that an “assault weapon” pointed at the head of Elian Gonzales back day?
I have made two comments that were taken down, so I will not be watching this channel in the future. As a Vet I fought for the right to speak my mind, but this and other media outlets decide what some pin head suit thinks is right. I never attack anyone, but I have an option. Good bye.
My hope is he will be run out of DC on a rail. If he is confirmed, my hope is he and his minions start on my street. He will find a war, because we have 17 Veterans in the three blocks and we are armed and very dangerous to anyone who wants to f-ck with us. Come on down, David Chipman.
d Chipman, even the criminals leave us alone.
That anti-American and unconstitutional coward is going to get a lot of people killed if he is unjustly confirmed to head the atf, he is going to get a lot of his own atf agents killed in the process. Americans nowadays are NOT going to give up their rights as easily as he think they will
Not simply a useful idiot, but an imbecile.
While I’m at it, why isn’t he in prison for Waco?
It matters not who heads this agency, for it is an illegal agency to begin with and should be abolished and never existed in the first place. While this guy is a total nut bag and loser that is the only thing that might make him different than any other one as a leader.The united states government has no business being involved in what the people do in regards to firearms, tobacco, or alcohol. The only reason this agency exist is to get revenue and or for control of the above. They are part of a goon squad to protect alcohol producing companies and by doing so the ATF along with alcohol and tobacco laws denies Americans true freedom. This agency again like most all federal govt. agencies is illegal and unconstitutional and they should be abolished.
What a tool this guy is. I wouldn’t vote for him to be dog catcher let alone director of the AFT. I called both of my senators and told them what I thought of this guy. I hope they listened.
Just remember. He is pictured with the charred remains of innocent women and children at the Mt. Carmel Church in Waco Texas. And the ‘Dirt Bag’ is proud of it!
As a historian I feel it’s important to remind everyone that there’s a French solution to these problems.
It won’t take too many applications of this solution to get the point across.
Look up his picture of him posing with burnt corpses at Waco. He is a JBT who would love to kill American citizens. I bet it turns him on
ZERO GUN CONTROL TOLERANCE!! 2ND AMENDMENT SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED!!!!!!!!