Biden Withdraws Anti-Second Amendment ATF Nominee David Chipman
McConnell celebrates 'win for the Second Amendment and law-abiding American citizens'
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Democrat Joe Biden's anti-Second Amendment nominee for running the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) has been withdrawn by the White House, according to reports.
Biden's controversial nomination for anti-gun activist David Chipman to run AFT had sparked fury among patriotic Americans evrywhere.
The news was confirmed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Twitter, who remarked that "the White House is taking my advice and pulling the terrible nomination of David Chipman."
"Absurd that a vocal opponent of Americans' constitutional rights was ever picked to run ATF," the Republican leader added.
"This is a win for the Second Amendment and law-abiding American citizens."
After his career as an ATF agent, Chipman worked for gun control groups for years and has a history of caustic comments about gun owners.
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Chipman was staunchly opposed by Republicans but he even struggled to gain the support of several Democrats, who never explicitly opposed Chipman's nomination but also never publicly supported him either, according to Fox News.
The Washington Post first reported the story.
"Mr. Chipman’s long record as a partisan, anti-Second Amendment activist raised plenty of concerns about how he’d administer federal firearms laws. But that wasn’t the only cause for concern," Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said.
"The record he concealed from Congress, some of which remains hidden to this day, about how he treated his fellow employees while at the ATF confirms his lack of fitness to lead the agency."
Sen. McConnell, who has often supported Biden's executive nominees, celebrated Chipman's downfall.
Glad to hear reports the White House is taking my advice and pulling the terrible nomination of David Chipman. Absurd that a vocal opponent of Americans' constitutional rights was ever picked to run ATF. This is a win for the Second Amendment and law-abiding American citizens.
— Leader McConnell (@LeaderMcConnell) September 9, 2021
"I’ve been opposed to David Chipman leading the ATF from the start," Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) said.
"He's an anti-Second Amendment, gun-grabbing radical that should not lead the agency that regulates firearms."
Chipman previously worked for gun control groups Giffords and Everytown.
A third gun control group, Brady United, condemned the Senate for failing to confirm Chipman.
"It is hugely disappointing and unconscionable that 50 members of the U.S. Senate as well as at least one senator who caucuses with the President’s party would deny President Biden his choice to lead the ATF," Brady President Kris Brown said.
"It is even more concerning that they would do so by parroting the talking points of the gun lobby, which has spread misinformation and blatant lies about David Chipman since his nomination was announced."
"It is immoral and indefensible that the only agency with regulatory oversight over the gun industry has been permitted to persist for so many years without leadership, because of the outsized influence the gun industry has over what used to be considered ‘the world’s greatest deliberative body,’" Brown added.
She also said that "we cannot continue to allow this position to be senate-confirmable."
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This marks the second major defeat for one of Biden's nominees of his term.
The White House withdrew its nomination of Neera Tanden to run the Office of Management and Budget earlier this year after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va) announced he opposed her over her controversial Twitter history.
It's unclear at this point who could be the White House's pick to replace Chipman.
The Senate hasn't confirmed an ATF director for years.
When Biden first announced the Chipman nomination, he called Chipman "the right person, at this moment, for this important agency."
At least some Senate Democrats appear to disagree.
