By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday reached a stalemate on Joe Biden’s nomination of David Chipman to head the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with Republicans and Democrats voting 11-11 on party lines.
The Judiciary split may present a problem for anti-gun Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). The Washington Post said Schumer “will need to hold a full Senate vote to discharge the nomination from committee.”
Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the grassroots Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, issued a statement.
“Today’s party-line vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee on David Chipman’s nomination to head the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives underscores the toxicity of his choice by Joe Biden to head the agency,” Gottlieb said. “His extremist views on gun ownership, combined with his background as a gun control advocate for the gun prohibition lobby should automatically disqualify him for the position he seeks. CCRKBA will continue to encourage our members and supporters, and millions of honest gun owners to keep contacting their Senate members and urge a ‘No’ vote on his confirmation when it goes before the full Senate.
Jason Ouimet, executive director of the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action, stated, “David Chipman spent the last 10 years unapologetically lobbying for gun control on Capitol Hill and getting paid to do Michael Bloomberg’s bidding. He supports extreme, unconstitutional restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms, and today’s party-line vote in the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee affirms the reality that he is unfit to lead ATF. While Chipman awaits consideration before the full U.S. Senate, NRA will continue to activate our members and the millions of law-abiding American gun owners across the country to contact their U.S. senators and urge them to vote against his confirmation.”
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas told the committee, “Mister Chipman…is the manifestation of the promise ‘We’re going to come for your guns.’ Mister Chipman is a gun control zealot.”
Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas called the nominee, a former ATF agent, “an anti-gun radical.”
However, Committee Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin described Chipman as “a responsible gun owner who has advocated for commonsense, constitutional gun safety measures” who is “uniquely positioned to restore both credibility and accountability” to the agency.
But earlier in the week, AmmoLand News reported that Chipman is under scrutiny over allegations, which he denies, that he once lost a duty firearm while on the job.
