This Biden nominee is still in limbo

| 12:01 pm EDT July 14, 2021
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Lawmakers either want to help President Biden reduce crime in this country or they do not. There is no middle ground on this serious issue. Cliché aside, criminals have shown time and again that it is people — not guns — that kill people. Some people should not be allowed to own guns, and if they own them illegally, they need to go to jail. It is a simple solution. No one is trying to dismantle the Second Amendment, and protecting the citizens of this country must take priority. President Biden issued executive orders to combat gun violence back in April, which was reported on by Huffington Post. At that time, he also nominated someone to lead the ATF to undertake the implementation of those orders. Now, three months later, David Chipman — Biden’s nominee — has still not been confirmed. What is the problem?

According to Huffington Post, no permanent head of ATF has been appointed since 2015. This one is easy: Trump kowtowed to the NRA, which wanted no head of this department. President Biden has promised the resources needed to properly run the department, and he wants the right person to take that role. Chipman is a former ATF agent who now works as a senior policy advisor for Giffords, a gun violence prevention group. Because he works for this organization, senators — including some Democrats — are dragging their feet on Chipman’s appointment. Politico reported that some Democrats have been shy about voicing support for Chipman, with the usual suspect, Joe Manchin, claiming he is “working on it” whatever that means. Manchin claimed that Chipman’s credentials “are exemplary” but he is concerned about “everything else that people have concerns about.” Manchin is from a red state, so we can understand his reluctance in a sense, but what all of them need to do is fully explain President Biden’s executive orders. Perhaps people will understand that he is not trying to take away people’s guns.

Motley Fool has a list of the executive orders and what they will mean to the public. In short, the orders outlaw homemade guns, require stabilizing braces be subjected to the National Firearms Act, require law enforcement to confiscate guns from people believed to be a danger to themselves or others, and require reporting on gun trafficking. None of these orders infringe on anyone’s Second Amendment rights, but they do make life safer for others whether they own guns or not. It is ridiculous to contend that these rules prevent law-abiding citizens from owning weapons for their own protection, and Mitch McConnell’s characterization of Chipman as “an anti-gun extremist” is even more ridiculous.

As Politico reported, Chipman’s nomination deadlocked in the Senate Judiciary Committee in June, but he can still advance to the Senate floor. It is interesting that Republicans do not seem to want this position filled, as the only other time a permanent nominee was confirmed was under President Obama. Republicans and moderate Democrats need to step out of the way and let President Biden take control over the mass shootings that are occurring far too frequently in this country.