On Wednesday, the Biden administration announced plans to pass sweeping gun control measures, cracking down on the Second Amendment rights of millions of Americans.
Labeling gun violence a “public health epidemic,” the White House declared that it would ban “ghost guns,” clarify National Firearms Act provisions, invest $5 billion in “community violence intervention” through Biden’s pending infrastructure bill, and involve agencies like the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services in collecting national data on firearms.
The Biden administration also revealed its intention to tap David Chipman as Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.
Chipman — a Second Amendment revisionist with a long history of supporting gun control — would enforce the Commander-in-Chief’s aggressive actions against firearm ownership.
Here are five things gun owners in America should know about Chipman’s record.
Second Amendment progressive
Chipman favors a heavy-handed approach in revising Americans’ Second Amendment rights away from their traditional constitutional foundation.
As he wrote for The Roanoke Times last year, Chipman insisted that he is “a proud gun owner who has sometimes been mischaracterized as a gun grabber.” Nevertheless, he stated that “renegade” local governments in Virginia that declared themselves “constitutional counties” in the face of gun control measures from Gov. Ralph Northam (D-VA) indicated a “dangerous new phenomenon.”
“These pledges from local officials to blatantly ignore gun safety laws are fueling wild falsehoods about government overreach, while also putting Virginians at risk from the very gun violence lawmakers have sworn to prevent,” Chipman wrote.
Later in the article, he explained that “the Second Amendment envisions firearms as being ‘well regulated,’ and individual sheriffs aren’t entitled to decide whether a particular regulation is constitutional — that’s the job of the courts.”
Chipman also revealed a paternalistic attitude toward gun regulation: “As a resident of Virginia, I don’t look to my local city council or sheriff to decide how gun regulations can coexist with gun ownership. I care about what they are doing to protect me, my family, and my neighbors.”
Gun rights groups are not pleased with Chipman’s philosophy on the Second Amendment.
Gun Owners of America Senior Vice President Erich Pratt said in a statement that he was “shocked at the brazen decision to nominate a registered anti-gun lobbyist to be Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives,” noting that “David Chipman’s anti-constitutional lobbying career clearly disqualifies him from holding public office.”
Mocked new gun owners
Many Americans became gun owners for the first time during COVID-19 lockdowns. Chipman — who claims to be a “proud gun owner” — denigrated them during an interview.
“Most of the new buyers who went out to the gun store and bought a gun have no training whatsoever,” Chipman told Cheddar on April 3, 2020. “In their mind they might be competent, they might think they’re die-hard and ready to go, but unfortunately they’re more like Tiger King. They’re putting themselves and their families in danger.”
“What I would suggest,” he continued, “if they did go out and buy a gun, I would secure that gun locked and unloaded and hide it behind the cans of tuna and beef jerky that you’ve stored in the cabinet, and only bring that out if the zombies start to appear.”
Giffords senior advisor
David Chipman serves as a senior policy advisor at Giffords — an organization “fighting to end the gun lobby’s stranglehold on our political system.” Like the Biden administration, the group — which is led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords — considers gun violence an “epidemic” in the United States.
As OpenSecrets details, the group supplies hundreds of thousands in lobbying dollars to politicians and causes that support increased gun control. Over 99% of contributions from Giffords are directed toward Democrats.
According to Chipman’s biography on the site, he has “expertise” on the topics of “ghost guns,” the “gun industry,” and “assault weapons.”
Giffords lauds Chipman for serving “as a member of ATF’s version of SWAT” and receiving the “Attorney General’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to Community Partnerships for Public Safety in honor of his efforts aimed at preventing gun homicides in targeted US cities.”
In a press release, Giffords declared that Chipman would be a “strong, experienced leader” at the helm of the ATF.
“As a former ATF special agent, David will be able to address the most pressing issues facing the bureau from day one, including reducing gun violence,” said the group. “David has spent his career serving the public, combating violent crime, and striving to make our nation and our communities safer. As a responsible gun owner, decorated law enforcement professional, and gun safety expert, David is the perfect choice for ATF director.”
In an adjacent statement about the Biden administration’s new gun control policies, former Congresswoman Giffords said that “days like today are why we fought so hard to bring a gun safety champion to the White House.”
“Today we have hope that a brighter future is in store,” she wrote. “Thank you, President Biden.”
ATF agent
David Chipman worked at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms for nearly 23 years.
The ATF — an agency under the Department of Justice — has a mandate to protect “communities from violent criminals, criminal organizations, the illegal use and trafficking of firearms, the illegal use and storage of explosives, acts of arson and bombings, acts of terrorism, and the illegal diversion of alcohol and tobacco products.”
Conservatives and libertarians have long found issue with the agency’s restrictions on Second Amendment rights and incompetence in stopping illegal gun sales.
Chipman held nine different positions as he ascended through the ranks at the ATF over his two decades of service.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Chipman joined the agency in 1988 as a special agent in the Washington Field Division. After stints in Norfolk, Houston, Detroit, and Flint, he was promoted to Chief of the agency’s Policy Development and Evaluation Branch. In this post, he led the ATF’s transition from the Department of Treasury to the Department of Justice.
Beginning in 2004, he served as Chief of the Firearms Enforcement Branch, where he “managed development of national firearms enforcement strategies.” Later, as Chief of the Firearms Program Division, he led foreign offices in Bogota, Mexico City, Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver.
Before leaving the agency in 2010, Chipman worked as a Special Agent in Charge; he led 25 field divisions across the nation and executed a $150 million annual budget.
ShotSpotter team member
Chipman has worked to apply his decades of gun control experience in the private sector.
Chipman joined ShotSpotter — a company that seeks to “enable law enforcement to more effectively respond to, investigate and deter crime” — as Senior Vice President of Public Safety. In his role, Chipman expanded the “company’s leadership in partnering with cities nationwide to fight gun violence and related crime through the use of its ShotSpotter gunfire data and intelligence.”
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.