Joe Biden nominee – the former ATF agent turned gun control activist – is set to be in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
The new ATF boss will be appointed in a few weeks while the administration is engaging in what is called “pre-hearing spins” relying on New York Times.
A long piece in the publication describes the agency in charge of our firearms industry as the “whipping boy” for NRA in years past. The NRA has long had a pretty decent history of influence over the agency.
The President ordered a ban on the homemade-firearm kits defined as “ghost guns”, expected to be implemented by the A.T.F. For fleshing out gun policy, Biden has demanded the A.T.F. spearhead the first comprehensive federal survey of weapons-trafficking patterns since 2000.
In all likelihood, it is expected to be shouldered by the nominee, former A.T.F. agent and gun-control activist, David Chipman.
It was at the N.R.A.’s instigation that Congress limited the bureau’s budget and have limited leeway on collection and usage of gun ownership data.
It is also marked by limited unannounced inspections of gun dealers. It was 15 years back that the N.R.A. successfully lobbied for the director’s appointment subject to Senate confirmation and subsequently helped block all but one nominee from taking office.
Chipman didn’t respond when asked for a comment through an official with Ms. Giffords’s gun-control group. In the event that Congress doesn’t confirm Chipman’s appointment, the other way is for Biden to appoint him as the “acting director” – which would give him limited power and authority.
It is expected that gun owners should lobby their senators to oppose Chipman’s nomination with gun control activities.
One thing The New York Times ignored is that Democrats have offered up multiple candidates that couldn’t pass the floor with a majority of the US Senate.
In 2020, President Obama Barack Obama nominated A.T.F. agent Andrew Traver as the permanent director but failed to receive a vote because several senators spoke out over Traver’s anti-gun attitudes. The second nominee, B. Todd Jones was ultimately confirmed but remained in office for less than two years, retired in 2015 and took a job with the NFL.
Chipman boasts 25 years at the A.T.F. while spending nearly a decade with gun control groups such as Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Giffords. The New York Times stated that Chipman may not get the votes for confirmation.
Former top N.R.A official says:
The Chipman pick “is poking people in the eye. I think the president would be better served by appointing a more apolitical person and building more bridges to bipartisanship.
0 Comments for “ATF is the Key to Biden’s Gun Control”