When gun control activist David Chipman was testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in his confirmation hearing earlier this year, he swore to senators that if he was approved as the ATF’s permanent director, he’d put his activism aside and just follow Congress’s lead when it came to enforcing the nation’s gun laws. It was a laughable claim at the time, and ever since his nomination flamed out thanks to opposition from Sen. Angus King and others, Chipman’s repeatedly demonstrated that rejecting him was the right call.

The latest example comes from Chipman’s interview with CBS News. Check out this nonsense.

“I have, from 25 years as an ATF agent, and largely for ten years after that, committed myself to one thing: preventing gun violence in this country,” Chipman told “CBS Evening News” anchor and managing editor Norah O’Donnell. “To oppose me must mean that you’re not for preventing gun violence.”

Maybe one of Dave’s buddies could let him know that opposition to him could also mean that he has some truly terrible ideas about preventing violence; starting with his desire to criminalize the possession of the most commonly sold rifle in the country. But let’s not ignore Chipman’s views of the industry he would have overseen if confirmed as ATF director.

“I think the real conversation we’re having, and I want to be clear, is the fear is it’s gonna be harder for people who sell guns to sell guns absent any accountability for profiting from selling them to criminals and terrorists. The reality is in much of America it’s easier to buy a gun than a beer,” he said. “The problem is the gun industry profits by gun violence itself because it’s the fear that you’re gonna get shot, that you run out and buy a gun.”

When pressed by O’Donnell on his view that the gun industry profits on fears of gun violence and asked whether he thought “lawful gun owners” also want to get rid of trafficked guns and gun violence, he said, “not enough.”

I’m pretty sure that not even Chipman himself believes this nonsense. Easier to buy a beer than a gun in many parts of the country? I’d love to know where exactly, given that every retail sale of a firearm in all 50 states goes through a background check. I’m assuming that Chipman is referring to private transfers of firearms, which can be conducted without a background check in many states, but that doesn’t mean his argument makes any more sense. You know what else can be transferred between two private parties without the need for government intervention or supervision? Beer. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never asked my friends or neighbors to show me their ID before I offer them a cold one on a hot summer’s day.

As for the idea that the firearms industry requires violent crime in order to turn a profit, I’d note that the industry did pretty well between 1991 and 2020, when violent crime rates fell by nearly 50% across the country. It’s actually the gun control lobby that relies on media coverage of acts of violence to advance their agenda and raise money. Heck, the gun control playbook even has an entire section devoted on how to respond to “high-profile gun violence incidents” in order to best take advantage of tragedy.

In his interview with CBS reporter Norah O’Donnell, Chipman really comes off as an arrogant jackass with a moral superiority complex, and I don’t think that’s the fault of CBS News. I think Chipman is showing us exactly who he is, and in doing so he provided us with yet more evidence (if any was needed) that he should be nowhere near a position of power or influence when it comes to our right to keep and bear arms. In fact, Chipman’s such an anti-gun zealot he can’t even acknowledge we have a right to bear arms.

“I have no problem with the right to possess guns,” he added. “I love that constitutional right […]

Thanks for the laugh, Dave. And have fun running your mouth instead of running the ATF.