NRA Ad Campaign Urges Sen. Joe Manchin to Oppose David Chipman

The NRA is launching an ad campaign July 4 designed to pressure Sen. Joe Manchin (D) into supporting West Virginians’ gun rights over gun controller David Chipman.

Chipman, a long-time gun control affiliate of Gabby Giffords and her husband, Sen. Mark Kelly, is President Biden’s nominee to run the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).

Chipman confirmed his support for an AR-15 ban during his Senate confirmation hearings in May of this year.

Fox News notes that the NRA is launching a $250,000 campaign to get Manchin to commit to opposing Chipman.

Manchin is a Democrat Senator in the deep red, pro-Second Amendment state of West Virginia. The state’s other Senator, Shelley Moore Capito, has made clear she will put West Virginians’ gun rights ahead of partisan politics and vote against Chipman.

NRA’s Amy Hunter said, “West Virginia plays an important role in national politics and its influence over this confirmation cannot be overstated. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito has made her stance clear: she will vote ‘no’ on Chipman’s nomination because she stands for law-abiding gun owners and recognizes the threat he poses.”

During Senate confirmation hearings Chipman repeatedly referred to himself as an “advocate” in the gun control community. At one point, he referred to his advocacy for having AR-15 rifles placed under the auspices of the National Firearms Act (NFA).

He said, “As an advocate I prefer a system where the AR-15 and other ‘assault weapons’ are regulated under the NFA.”

Placing AR-15s under the NFA would require all AR-15 owners to be photographed and fingerprinted, to undergo an extensive background check, to register their firearm with the ATF, and to pay the federal government a $200 tax on the gun.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.