To the Phones! Last Chance to Oppose Chipman for ATF Head

I have a few questions.

If the Second Amendment isn’t enough for your Senator, maybe their re-election chances will be.

Out of the 300 million Americans that Joe Biden could have chosen to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), David Chipman is the worst possible one. Having earned his bones killing Branch Davidians and then having put those bones to work as a lobbyist for Giffords, a gun-control organization, Chipman’s loathing for the Second Amendment is unparalleled.

The fact that the Second Amendment exists and Shall Not be Infringed may not be enough to convince your Senator that Chipman’s nomination as head of ATF should be scuttled. If that’s the case, it’s time to let them know that something they really care about is on the line: their re-election chances. The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) has a phone number for you to call to let your Senator know that. The Capitol switchboard number is (202) 224-3121.

“When a nominee for the top post at the agency responsible for enforcing the nation’s firearms regulations can’t define what he believes an ‘assault weapon’ is, that raises alarms,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “By the time he actually provided some semblance of an answer, he was merely quoting a policy that essentially applies to every semiautomatic centerfire rifle on the planet. Nobody who subscribes to such a catch-all definition of a firearm that really doesn’t exist should lead the ATF.

“It is equally alarming,” he continued, “that Mr. Chipman has been employed for the past few years by Giffords, one of the nation’s leading gun prohibition lobbying organizations, as a senior policy advisor. There is absolutely no appearance of fairness or objectivity in this nomination, and his performance before the Senate Judiciary Committee leaves serious doubts about his perspective on gun rights and the Second Amendment, and how he would approach the job if confirmed.

“Chipman’s nomination has the appearance of political patronage to an organization that steadfastly supports the president’s gun control agenda,” Gottlieb said. “Out of all the potential candidates to lead the agency, Joe Biden has picked the one individual whose nomination was guaranteed to ignite a political firestorm. At this point, it is fair to question why the president has done this. It looks like the president wants to put the gun prohibition lobby in charge of firearms regulation and enforcement.

“Throughout his political career,” the CCRKBA chief recalled, “Joe Biden has portrayed himself as a tough guy, and here he is deliberately provoking a fight with tens of millions of law-abiding American citizens by nominating a man who seems eager to step on their rights, for no other reason than to show he can get away with it. That’s not the characteristic of a national leader who pledged to bring the country together. That’s something a bully does for an ego boost.

“This is a bad nomination,” Gottlieb concluded. “It’s bad for the cause of unity, it’s bad for the Constitution and it’s bad for the country.”

To the phones! That number again is (202) 224-3121.