Joe Biden's former ATF nominee says US 'gun industry profits by gun violence itself'

US President Joe Biden’s former nominee to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), David Chipman, recently criticised lawmakers for opposing his nomination last month. In an interview with CBS Evening News, Chipman argued that depriving the bureau of a Senate-confirmed leader will only worsen gun violence in America. He also criticised the gun industry, saying it “profits by gun violence itself”. 

In a televised interview, Chipman said, “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. To oppose me must mean that you're not for preventing gun violence."

It is to mention that Biden had withdrawn Chipman’s nomination in early September after choosing him in April to lead the agency. While announcing the withdrawal, Biden had blamed congressional Republicans for using gun crime as a “political talking point instead of taking serious steps to address it”. He had even praised Chipman as someone who would have been “an exemplary director” of the ATF. 

However, according to CBS, it was Chipman’s past work with Giffords, an organisation that advocates gun control, that helped sink his nomination in the Senate. Republicans had accused Chipman of opposing the Second Amendment and claimed that he was anti-gun. 

'Easier to buy a gun than a beer'

Now, during the interview with the media outlet, Chipman spoke strongly about the current state of gun regulations in the United States. He said that some people fear that their guns will be taken away. He also went on to say that it is also gonna be harder for people who sell guns to 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,” Chipman said, adding "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."

Further, Chipman explained that the Second Amendment says nothing about the right to sell guns to criminals. He said that he has no problem with the right to possess guns, but he went on to say that the problem is people want to profit by selling guns to people who shouldn’t get them. Chipman concluded the interview by saying that the ATF bureau will suffer in its mission to curb the illegal use of firearms and target criminals who traffic guns because it has not had a Senate-confirmed leader since 2015 and lacks adequate funding. 

"ATF's budget is about $1.5 billion, which seems like a lot of money. But our last aircraft carrier cost $12 billion. ATF is smaller than the Las Vegas Police Department," he said. 

(Image: AP)