Sen. Mike Lee blasts Joe Biden’s ATF nominee for contempt of gun owners
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 7:50 PM PT – Wednesday, May 26, 2021
Utah Sen. Mike Lee (R) will be facing off against Joe Biden’s pick,
David Chipman, to lead the ATF over his blatant contempt for gun owners.
During Wednesday’s confirmation hearing, Sen. Lee pressed Chipman on
previous anti-gun comments he made online. Lee also brought up an
interview Chipman did last April about a rise in gun sales during which
Chipman appeared to mock first-time gun owners.
The Republican further expressed concern that Chipman’s words
targeting Second Amendment supporters, violated fundamental rules of due
process when pointing to this specific instance.
Chipman had posted on Reddit in 2019 stating, “while at ATF, I
conducted studies involving people who failed background checks to
determine how many later committed crimes with a gun. Many did. This is a
perfect opportunity to arrest people before committing crimes rather
than responding after the fact.”
In response to Lee, Chipman claimed he was misunderstood and his
words had been taken out of context. He continued to justify his
statement saying he had only been making a joke about himself.
