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Donald Trump Jr. Pushing Opposition To Chipman

AP Photo/Brennan Linsley

David Chipman helming the ATF would be a disaster for Second Amendment advocates. We all know that and we know if Donald Trump was still in office, it wouldn’t be happening.

That’s not exactly news. We all know that Chipman would never be nominated by Trump. Chipman knows that as well.

However, it does seem that at least one Trump is working to keep Chipman out of office.

Donald Trump Jr. is currently working behind the scenes to convince Democrats from Republican-dominated states to oppose President Joe Biden’s choice to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, David Chipman.

Punchbowl News reports Trump Jr. will make appearances on local and national television programs to put pressure on Democrats in red states to come out against the nomination of Chipman, an advocate for gun control who works for the group founded by former Rep. Gabby Giffords, D-Ariz.

“Biden nominating a radical anti-gun activist to lead a law enforcement and public safety agency is just more evidence of the myth that this is a moderate administration,” a source close to Trump Jr. told Punchbowl News. “We won’t let Democrat senators in states like West Virginia, Montana, and Arizona get away with being pro-2A at home while being Schumer’s gun-grabbing puppets in D.C.”

The plan is to target Democrats who have more to lose by siding with anti-gun groups in supporting Chipman’s nomination.

While it’s unlikely the Democrats will care what the younger Trump has to say about much of anything, it will potentially rile up pro-Second Amendment sentiment and mobilize that bunch. That’s going to put those lawmakers in a particularly tough space.

Especially since there are serious questions about Chipman at the head of the agency.

And not just from the gun rights crowd, either.

Former ATF Director Michael Sullivan, as well as a current ATF member involved in training and a retired ATF deputy director who wished to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation, expressed concern that Biden’s nominee is too political to lead an unbiased agency.

“I am concerned that somebody who has taken such a strong and hostile position against the Second Amendment, as well as gun owners and some of the most popular firearms in the United States, would be viewed as a political leader for an agency that, I think, has worked extremely hard to build the American public confidence in its handling of interpreting both the Gun Control Act and the various regulations around it,” Sullivan told Fox News.

And that’s really the problem with Chipman. It’s not that he’s unqualified. He’s probably as qualified as anyone you could think of. The problem is that he threw in whole hog with the anti-gun crowd and built a second career out of opposing gun rights. To put him in charge of the agency that interprets gun control laws and regulations as well as enforces them will likely turn out to be a disaster for our Second Amendment rights.

It’s just insane that President Joe Biden really thinks this was a viable choice for the ATF.

Which is why Donald Trump Jr. is involved. He’s reportedly the main advisor to his father who defended gun rights. Trump Jr. is a gun person, apparently, so he has plenty of reason himself to oppose Chipman on his own.

It’s time to pull out all the stops to keep Chipman from being confirmed. Right now, the fact that he hasn’t is a hopeful sign, but he also hasn’t been voted down, either, so there’s still a possibility of his confirmation. In fairness, that’s because Democrats won’t hold a vote until/unless there are enough to confirm, so no news is good news.

But we need to keep with the pressure. Chipman needs to go back to Giffords, not take over the ATF.

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