President Biden has had little trouble getting even the most controversial nominees confirmed.
Democrats have voted in unison, with only Neera Tanden, Bidenās pick to head his budget office, facing bipartisan opposition. But the White House is pulling out all the stops to push through David Chipmanās confirmation to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). And Democrats want the vote to take placeĀ this week.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki claims that the largely Republican opposition to Chipman āspeaks volumes to their complete refusal to tackle this spike in crime weāve seen over the last 18 months.ā Of course, the Biden administrationās focus on gun control to control violent crime ignores thatĀ 92% of violent crime has nothing to do with guns. But with Democrats controlling the Senate, they donāt need any Republican votes to confirm him.
The problem appears to be Maineās Angus King, who has privately told the White House that he isĀ leaning againstĀ the nomination. Predictit, an online betting website, has the odds that Chipmanās nomination will failĀ at 80%.
While Chipmanās opponents have raised concerns about himĀ lying to CongressĀ and claims ofĀ discrimination regarding black recruitsĀ to the ATF, there are serious concerns about how Chipman, who has worked for both Michael Bloombergās and Gabbie Giffordās gun control organizations, will regulate the firearms industry.
If you want to know how extremist Chipmanās views are on guns, you can look at his pastĀ calls for gun registration and licensing. He refers to the AR-15 āas a particularly lethal weapon,ā but while that might convince the media, AR-15s are functionally identical to any small-caliber semi-automatic hunting rifle. It fires the same bullets, fires at the same rapidity (one bullet per pull of the trigger), and does the same damage. It is a hunting rifle. It just looks like a military weapon. In his testimony during his Senate confirmation hearing, ChipmanĀ definedĀ an assault weapon as āany semi-automatic rifle capable of accepting a detachable magazine above the caliber of .22, which would include a .223, which is, you know largely the AR-15 round.ā
But the ATF doesnāt just enforce the laws passed by Congress. It also determines what items are defined as firearms and whether they comply with the law.
Take stabilizing braces for pistols, which were originally designedĀ to allow wounded and disabled veterans to hold handguns. They are just a strap attached to the gun. Disabled individuals are often viewed as easy targets by criminals, and stabilizers make it easier to defend themselves. Biden wants to classify them the same as machine guns. When the ATF originally approved them during the Obama administration, they did not violate existing law.
Chipman will review past decisions and prevent any new improvements in guns.
Or take Bidenās āzero toleranceā policy towards what he calls ārogueā gun dealers. No policymaker wants dealers to secretly sell guns to criminals out of the back of their store. But that is not what Biden is going after. Even one mistake in paperwork, no matter how trivial and inconsequential, now means the loss of their license and the end of their business. When Biden talks aboutĀ 5% of the gun dealers selling 90% of the guns found at crime scenes, he ignores that 5% sell over 90% of the guns. He ignores thatĀ less than 0.1% of gunsĀ are used in a crime in any given year, and that guns stop crime about five times more frequently than they commit it.
Chipman will determine what classifies as a mistake by gun dealers.
President Donald Trump never got his ATF nominee confirmed, and the position has remained vacant for six years. Yet, amazingly, Democratic Senators such as Montanaās Jon Tester and West Virginiaās Joe Manchin havenāt come out against Chipmanās nomination.
Biden is already pushing through regulations that will make it more difficult and costly for Americans to buy guns for self-defense. With violent crime surging in major cities as prosecutors refuse to prosecute violent criminals, police face budgets cuts, and jails release violent inmates, poor minorities are the very ones who most need protection. But Bidenās policies will prevent these people from being able to defend themselves.