In what qualifies as some of the best news in a while, David Chipman is not going to be Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosive. The wild-eyed former ATF agent’s nomination has finally been pulled by the Biden administration, an admission that he simply did not have the votes to be confirmed.
Chipman has been exposed as a crazed conspiracy theorist over the last several months, from rants about zombie preppers to making things up about the Waco massacre. He’s also just a rabid anti-gun activist who currently works for Gabby Giffords’ outfit. While the ATF probably shouldn’t exist at all, at least not in its current capacity, it certainly shouldn’t be led by a man looking to use the agency as a platform to violate the constitutional rights of American citizens. And Chipman had made it clear that’s exactly what he wanted to do.
When pressed on what an assault rifle is, something Chipman says he wants to ban, he couldn’t even answer the question, instead, talking himself in circles about how Congress will define it. Eventually, he settled on a definition that would essentially ban all semi-automatic firearms with a detachable magazine, an absolutely insane proposition.
Of course, because Chipman’s insanity doesn’t just end with the Second Amendment, he also has a history of racism, and honestly, that’s probably the thing that put the final nail in his coffin.
Joe Biden abandoning Chipman here is a major victory for those who value and seek to protect gun rights. And while you can bet another bad nominee will be put forth by the administration, whoever that is will have to be somewhat less anti-gun to pass muster. Joe Manchin, being from the extremely pro-gun state of West Virginia, has signaled that he’s not going to torpedo his career just to satisfy far-left, anti-gun fantasies.