MEMO

TO: Arkansas’s Second Amendment Supporters

FROM: Senator John Boozman 

RE: Opposition to David Chipman’s nomination to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Date: July 28, 2021

President Joe Biden has nominated David Chipman to serve as Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). I believe he is unfit to lead the bureau and will vote against his confirmation.  

Chipman has not proven that he supports the Second Amendment, and in fact his record exhibits the opposite. Given the ongoing efforts around the country to implement unfair and unconstitutional gun control laws, I believe the head of the ATF should have a solid understanding and be a strong advocate for the Second Amendment.  

Chipman has a deeply flawed interpretation of our individual right to keep and bear arms. He worked for the ATF for almost 25 years. After serving in supervisory roles in Michigan and Washington, D.C. he retired in 2012. He has since become a senior policy advisor at Giffords, a gun control group that advocates for stricter firearms laws. Chipman’s nomination is another clear signal from the president that gun control measures remain a key priority on the administration’s agenda.  

Chipman has even shown his contempt and disdain for legal gun buyers, equating the rise in the purchase of guns during the pandemic to preparing for a zombie attack, “…the people who hoarded guns might decide six months from now—once they see no zombies around but they’ve run out of tuna and beef jerky—that they need the money to buy food.” Openly mocking lawful gun owners for exercising their constitutional right is troubling for anyone, but coming from the person nominated to lead the ATF it is downright disturbing and unacceptable. 

I am a proud supporter of the Second Amendment and believe the Director of the ATF should not have a predisposed hostility to it. I have serious concerns with Chipman's track record of vocal support for extensive gun control measures and his mistaken understanding of the Second Amendment. That’s why I feel it is more important than ever to continue my strong and vocal support for our Second Amendment right and forcefully oppose his nomination. 

I’ve long been a champion of this fundamental right. As a member of the Second Amendment Task Force, I have been a constant advocate of efforts to protect and enhance the ability of law-abiding citizens to own firearms. I’ve fought to protect this founding principle by pushing back on the Biden administration’s policies and nominees that threaten to erode it, as well as by supporting legislation to defend it. Here are some of the highlights from this Congress: 

• Opposing the nomination of Merrick Garland to serve as U.S. Attorney General because of his stance on guns and his previous rulings as federal judge that threatened the right to keep and bear arms.
  
  
• Urging the administration to withdraw overreaching rules including the ATF’s proposed rule banning the use of stabilizing braces on firearms.
  
  
• Cosponsoring the Federal Firearm Licensee Protection Act of 2021, the Hearing Protection Act, the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2021 and the Protecting the Right to Keep and Bear Arms Act.

Arkansans and Americans across our country understand the need to uphold and protect the Second Amendment. They are right, and I will continue that fight in the Senate.