Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021 | 2 a.m.
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Regarding District Attorney Steve Wolfson’s Aug. 1 guest column “Senate must confirm ATF nominee in short order,” we agree on two points. The Senate needs to confirm a director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the position is not an easy one. Beyond that, Wolfson is wrong on most everything else.
President Joe Biden’s nominee, David Chipman, is a gun control lobbyist and has worked for organizations that push radical anti-gun restrictions. His nomination hearing exposed his partisan gun control approach and demeaning attitude toward new gun owners, calling them “Tiger King” who are likely “prepping for a zombie apocalypse.” Most recently, serious and corroborated accusations surfaced of Chipman making derogatory and racist remarks about African American ATF agents. These aren’t “online conspiracy theories” that Wolfson would have you believe. These concerns — there are many more — are well-known and being made by ATF agents who know Chipman.
The firearm industry has a cooperative relationship with the ATF. The industry’s trade association, National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), supports increased ATF resources to carry out its mission. NSSF supported director nominees in the past from both political parties, including President Barack Obama’s nominee, B. Todd Jones.
Chipman is not an ATF nominee deserving of public confidence and is untrustworthy to lead the bureau.
The writer is senior vice president and general counsel for government affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
