Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan took to the Senate floor today to express how troubled he is about a gun-control activist who is President Joe Biden’s nominee for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Speaking of David Chipman, the ATF nominee, Sullivan said, “He is another extreme activist, this time against the Second Amendment and Second Amendment rights. He will be in charge of an agency, if confirmed, that’s actually in charge of law enforcement in regard to firearms.”
Sullivan quoted Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, who said putting Chipman in charge of firearms is like putting Antifa in charge of the Portland Police Department.
“If my colleagues believe that the Second Amendment is as important as other amendments … they wouldn’t be supporting Mr. Chipman as the head of ATF,” Sullivan said.
Chipman is well-known for his extremist views in defiance of the Second Amendment. Chipman has proposed that people who fail background checks should be arrested before they commit crimes.
Sullivan quoted Chipman saying in an interview, “This is a perfect opportunity to arrest people before they commit crimes, rather than arrest them after the fact.”
“Let that sink in..Let’s arrest people before they commit a crime,” Sullivan said. “He’s actually advocated arresting people who failed background checks. This is extreme, to say the least.”
Chipman also wants to ban any rifle other than a .22, which Sullivan said is not appropriate for Alaska. Chipman has lobbied for universal background checks, and to establish a national firearms transfer delay period.
Chipman’s confirmation vote has not yet been brought to the floor by Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY. But Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin said he would have no further hearings on Chipman’s nomination, in spite of new allegations of racism were lodged against Chipman last week. Neither Sullivan nor Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski serve on that committee, but Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas does serve on it, and has been vocal about his objection to Chipman.
Of Tracy Stone-Manning for the Bureau of Land Management, Sullivan said, “Somehow the president has decided to put forward someone who’s not just an extremist, but a violent extremist, a former eco-terrorist named Tracy Stone-Manning. This nominee clearly undertook activities, as part of a group called Earth First! — tree spiking, they call it — that’s actually meant to harm Americans who are legally harvesting logs and timber. That’s unbelievable that we’re actually even debating this nominee.”
Sullivan continued, “It’s disturbing and I ask that the president pull that nominee.”
