BREAKING: Biden Withdrawing Nomination of Anti-Gun ATF Director After Intense Backlash

By
David Rufful
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OPINION | This article contains commentary that reflects the author's opinion.

How embarrassing.

Joe Biden nominated David Chipman to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The only problem is that Chipman failed abysmally in a series of questions from the U.S. Senate while considering his nomination.

The cringeworthy moments were utterly humiliating for Chipman.

Chipman could not even define what an “assault weapon” is.

Sen. John Kennedy asked Chipman, “I got 35 seconds left, define it for me, would you please, sir. What’s an assault weapon?”

“There’s no way I could define an assault weapon,” Chipman said.

“I’ll give you one definition that ATF currently uses,” Chipman continued, although Kennedy wanted his personal definition.

“I’m done, Mr. Chairman. I don’t think I’m gonna get an answer,” Kennedy said.

As expected, Chipman’s nomination was met with strong opposition from gun rights groups, Republican senators and even a few Democrats.

This throws a major wrench in Biden’s plan to tackle what he calls the “epidemic” of gun violence in the United States.

Watch the clip:

NPR has confirmed, “President Biden plans to pull David Chipman’s nomination to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in the face of opposition from gun rights groups, Republican senators and a few Democrats.”

“Chipman, a former ATF agent who became a prominent gun control advocate after leaving the agency, has been ensnared in a brutal confirmation battle since Biden nominated him this spring,” the report adds.

“On Thursday, two sources close to the matter told NPR that Biden will pull the nomination in the coming days,” the report continued.

“The result leaves the ATF without a Senate-confirmed boss yet again. The agency hasn’t had a confirmed director in six years. It’s had only one since Congress made the position Senate approved in 2006,” NPR reported.

Here’s another clip of Chipman:

More from Becker News:

It wasn’t the only embarrasing episode that Chipman suffered on the stand. Senator Tom Cotton also pressed Chipman on the “assault rifle” issue.

“I don’t believe, senator, and thank you for this question, that the firearms industry has used the term ‘assault rifle’ in their marketing since there was a ban on it,” Chipman responded.

“I think our exchange here illustrates that there really is no such thing as an assault weapon. That is a term that was manufactured by liberal lawyers and pollsters in Washington to try to scare the American people into believing that the government should confiscate weapons that are wildly popular for millions of Americans to defend themselves and their families and their homes,” Cotton remarked.

Senator Ted Cruz also pressed Chipman to admit he wants to ban the AR-15, which Cruz said is the most popular rifle in America.