Gun Laws & Legislation

Chipman Just Cannot Help Proving Himself Incompetent

Screen Shot_Daily Caller_David Chipman_CSPAN

NRA ILA Contributor
Font Size:

It seems like we will continue writing pieces on David Chipman—Joe Biden’s failed nominee to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)—on a regular basis. Not because we like to gloat, but because Chipman keeps making public statements that further emphasize he was always supremely unqualified for the position as the nation’s top regulator of the firearms industry and most federal gun laws.

His media appearances have shown that he has both an extremely delicate, and shockingly overinflated, ego. He has also shown that he was likely to run the ATF as nothing more than an attack-dog for anti-gun extremists.

In early October, we reported that Chipman was so upset his nomination was rejected that he blamed Biden—the man who nominated him—for his personal failure. That bruised ego also led him to cast some blame on US Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine who caucuses with the Democrats, and whose stated opposition to the nomination led to it being pulled. Chipman told the New York Times how he felt after leaving a meeting with King.

“I left his office thinking, ‘Does he really believe that people who regulate industries can only get those jobs if they’re friends with the industry?’” Chipman said. “He said the quiet part out loud.”

As we said in early October, nobody insists that a nominee to head the ATF, or any other federal regulatory agency, be “friends with the industry.” What we do expect, however, is someone who does not consider law-abiding gun owners and firearm manufacturers to be adversaries, as Chipman clearly does.

In fact, it is Chipman, not King, who keeps saying that “quiet part out loud.”

In a recent interview with CBS News, Chipman referred to his apparent issue with gun manufacturers, saying, “The problem is the gun industry profits by gun violence itself….” He also referred to firearms dealers as “profiting from selling (guns) to criminals and terrorists.”

The idea that he seems to hold everyone in the firearms industry in such low regard, and he is apparently convinced (falsely, of course) that they are willing participants in the criminal misuse of firearms, is a rather clear indication the man was not fit to head ATF. How could the industry have possibly expected fair treatment?

Chipman also told CBS, in perhaps the most shocking case of hubris from Chipman to date, “To oppose me must mean that you’re not for preventing gun violence.”

No, David, opposition to your nomination was based, in part, on the fact that you have shown nothing but animosity towards law-abiding gun manufacturers, gun dealers, and gun owners. And you continue to do so.

He was also opposed because of his penchant for parroting anti-gun extremist talking points to promote an anti-gun agenda; for which he was paid handsomely (we presume). In fact, the CBS interview continued this tactic, when Chipman made the absurd claim, “The reality is in much of America it’s easier to buy a gun than a beer.”

While we don’t claim to be experts on the laws governing the sale of alcohol in America, we are not aware of a single law that requires someone who wishes to purchase beer to undergo a background check before doing so, or any laws that prohibit someone from purchasing alcohol because of a past criminal offense. If such laws exist, we imagine they are extremely rare.

We also do not keep records of the number of bars, restaurants, grocery stores, convenience stores, gas stations, or any other places where one may purchase beer. We will, however, wager that there are far more of them in the country than there are licensed gun dealers.

Granted, there may still be a few “dry counties” with old blue laws on the books that prohibit the sale of alcohol, but we will again wager that, unless someone is an anti-gun extremist like Chipman looking to make a false comparison, the average American would not refer to those counties as “much of America.”

Perhaps this just further proves that Chipman is disqualified to head ATF; not only because of his obvious distaste for law-abiding gun makers, gun sellers, and gun owners, but also because he doesn’t actually know what our nation’s gun laws entail.

The true reality is that Chipman is simply using a new version of an old anti-gun gimmick; claim that acquiring a gun is “easier” than acquiring some other random, but common, item.

Former President Barack Obama tried the gimmick in 2015, when he claimed “you can go on into some neighborhoods, and it’s easier for you to buy a firearm than it is for you to buy a book, there are neighborhoods where it’s easier for you to buy a handgun and clips than it is for you to buy a fresh vegetable.” He repeated a variant of the claim even after the Washington Post’s fact checker determined that the statement was a three-Pinocchio rated falsehood. Not only was the president “playing fast and loose with his language,” the fact checker ruled that the statement was “just a very strange comment that appears to have no statistical basis… As far as we know, there are no areas in the United States where background checks are needed to buy vegetables.”

Then came New York Attorney General Letitia James, who tried the same trick recently, but this time using apples for the false comparison.

Sadly, in spite of Chipman’s overinflated sense of importance, he isn’t even able to come up with an original approach to pushing gun control lies. Unless, of course, you count the bizarre zombie reference he once made.

Seriously, we hope this will be the last piece we have to write about Chipman, but we won’t count on it. The man clearly craves attention, and has no sense of how foolish and petulant he looks every time he speaks out about his failure to become head of ATF. He was the architect of his own demise, but seems committed to adding new wings to a house that was destined to collapse before ground was ever broken.

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the “lobbying” arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Click here to follow NRA-ILA on Facebook.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel