Chipman Spouts Lies to
Smear the Firearm Industry

David Chipman is proving – again – why he was never fit to be Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).

Chipman spoke with CBS News claiming the firearm industry, "profits by gun violence itself," and that U.S. senators that doomed his nomination are complicit in allowing criminal activity to continue. "To oppose me must mean that you're not for preventing gun violence." Chipman claimed, without a shred of proof, that the firearm industry sells guns to criminals and, "the reality is in much of America it's easier to buy a gun than a beer."

That's patently untrue since beer sales don't require FBI background checks. It's more than that though. Chipman smeared the firearm industry, describing it as complicit in the crime. He claimed that fear of regulation was the impetus behind the firearm industry's opposition to his nomination.

"The fear is, it's going to be harder for people who sell guns to sell guns absent any accountability from profiting from selling to criminals and terrorists," Chipman claimed. "The reality is in much of America, it's easier to buy a gun than a beer."

The allegation is as disgusting as it is false. Firearms are lawfully made and sold through an FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) verification. They are only sold to those who pass that check – lawful gun owners. Prohibited individuals such as convicted felons, the dangerously mentally ill, and domestic violence offenders don't pass those checks. .....