Biden Surrounds Himself with Anti-Gunners

We’ve reported several times in the past how President Joe Biden, backed by Democrats in Congress, has launched an all-out assault on the Second Amendment and law-abiding gun owners.

Along the way, he’s also worked hard to surround himself with anti-gun activists in key cabinet positions. And the current makeup of Congress has ensured that, at least so far, his nominations have been confirmed.

One great example is Attorney General Merrick Garland, who was confirmed on the coattails of 20 turncoat Republican senators. Most readers will likely remember Garland as then-President Barack Obama’s nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia upon his death back in February 2016. At that time, Garland’s anti-gun past—including his not believing the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms—fired up pro-gun advocates enough that they worked hard and killed the nomination.

Now, Garland is running Biden’s Justice Department, which includes heading up the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Equally dangerous is Vanita Gupta, Biden’s Associate Attorney General. She was confirmed courtesy of Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowsky, of Alaska, who was the only Republican voting in favor of the nomination, which subsequently passed by a 51-49 vote.

Gupta has very radical views on many issues, including the Second Amendment. As Sen. John Cornyn pointed out in written questions to Gupta in relation to her nomination, she has referred to the National Rifle Association as an “extremist advocacy organization.” When squarely confronted with that statement and asked if she stuck by it, Gupta deflected and refused to answer directly. Instead, she generically asserted she would “bring no prejudgments about the National Rifle Association or any other organization to my duty to fully, fairly and impartially enforce the law.”

Likely the worst of all for American gun owners is anti-2A militant David Chipman, Biden’s selection for head of the ATF. While the Senate hasn’t voted on Chipman’s nomination yet, their reluctance to cross Biden so far isn’t encouraging.

Most recently, Chipman has been a shill and lobbyist for anti-gun groups, and currently serves as the senior policy adviser for gun-ban group Giffords. Prior to working for gun-ban groups he was a longtime ATF agent who was involved in the Waco, Texas, debacle where 76 people, including women and children, were killed.

“The nomination of Chipman is a troubling reversal of years of pro-active safety cooperation between ATF and our industry,” said Larry Keane, general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). “It is an undeniable targeting of a Constitutionally protected industry by President Biden who called us ‘the enemy.’ It is also a reckless betrayal of the brave men and women of the ATF who have a difficult enough job without the politicization of the ATF.”

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Biden has even appointed anti-gun activists to top government positions that don’t even deal much with firearms. Xavier Becerra, formerly the attorney general of California, is already in place as Bidens Secretary of Health and Human Services. He spent years defending the Golden State’s unconstitutional gun control laws in court.

Also, Rep. Deb Haaland, Biden’s Secretary of the Interior, is no friend to the Second Amendment, as proven by statements found on her campaign website.

“We must take on the NRA!” the website states. “Congress needs to stop wasting lives and take action on gun violence—now. We must keep guns out of the hands of people who should never have a gun. We need 100 percent background checks and to close loopholes—especially with gun shows. We need to rid our communities of military-grade weapons; neither hunting nor policing require automatic weapons.”

In the end, birds of a feather tend to stick together. Under Biden, there are likely more extreme gun-haters in top government positions than in any other presidential administration, ever.

Freelance writer and editor Mark Chesnut is the owner/editorial director at Red Setter Communications LLC. An avid hunter, shooter and political observer, he has been covering Second Amendment issues and politics on a near-daily basis for the past 20 years.