ATF Nominee Supports
Extreme Rifle Ban!
By NRA-ILA. June 7, 2021
It was no secret President Joe Biden’s nominee to direct the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, David Chipman, supports a ban on commonly-owned semiautomatic firearms like the AR-15 and wants to force current “assault weapons” owners to register their firearms with the federal government through the National Firearms Act or forfeit their guns. After all, Chipman has worked as a paid gun control advocate for both Giffords (formerly Americans for Responsible Solutions and Legal Community Against Violence) and civilian disarmament financier Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns. However, an exchange during the anti-gun fanatic’s May 26 Senate confirmation hearing broke new ground for American anti-gun extremism by revealing the outrageous range of rifles Chipman would ban.
At the hearing, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) asked the nominee, “Mr. Chipman you have called for an assault weapon ban. I have a simple question for you. What is an assault weapon?” After some evasion from Chipman, Sen. Cotton reiterated his question, which resulted in the following exchange.
Sen. Cotton: "What is an assault weapon? How would you define it if you were the chair, the head of the ATF, how have you defined it over the last several years in your role as a gun control advocate?"
Chipman: "Senator, um if I'm confirmed as ATF director um you know my recollection is the only um process by which ATF has weighed in is I know there's a demand letter three program which requires multiple reports, multiple sale reports on the southwestern border. ATF in that program has ATF in that program has defined an assault rifle as any semi-automatic rifle capable of accepting a detachable magazine above the caliber of .22..."
For decades, gun control advocates have endorsed a feature test to determine what firearms are to be defined as “assault weapons.” Under this rubric, a semi-automatic firearm must be capable of accepting a detachable magazine and be equipped with one or more prohibited features in order to qualify as an “assault weapon.” Under the 1994 Clinton “assault weapons” ban, these features included items such as a pistol grip, bayonet mount, and adjustable stock.
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Given his outrageous history of working to ban firearms and undermine the Second Amendment, any senator expecting the support of the gun owning community must vote "no" on David Chipman's nomination to lead ATF. Please contact both of your United States Senators and ask them to vote against David Chipman.
