David Chipman
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

David Chipman, a retired Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agent, on Monday said AR-15 rifles should be regulated like machine guns. 

“What I support is treating them just like machine guns,” Chipman, who is now a senior policy adviser at Giffords: Courage to Fight Gun Violence, told Hill.TV’s Buck Sexton and Krystal Ball on “Rising.” 

“To me, if you want to have a weapon of war, the same gun that was issued to me as a member of [the] ATF SWAT team, it makes sense that you would have to pass a background check, the gun would have to be in your name, and there would be a picture and fingerprints on file,” he continued. 

“To me, I don’t mind doing it if I want to buy a gun. These policies just protect the criminal. Like, I don’t think you should be able to anonymously purchase 20 AR-15s at one time, and the government shouldn’t know,” he said. “I don’t think it’s unreasonable at all that you have to pass a background check to own a weapon of war.” 

— Julie Manchester in Retired ATF agent says AR-15 rifles should be regulated like machine guns

102 COMMENTS

  1. So much for my pending Form 1 now that Biden and his ilk are in charge. Probably won’t see the stamp for at least 4 years!!!

      • since this weapon fails to qualify under the first criteria…future discussion is pointless…just because it looks like “a weapon of war”…doesn’t mean it is one…

      • “ATF Director Nominee: AR-15 Weapons of War Should be Regulated Like Machine Guns”

        –>AR15’s are not machine guns.
        –>AR15’s are not weapons of war. If they were, we would give them to our soldiers which we don’t do.

    • There comes a point at which laws and regulations become so onerous that the only prudent course of action is to ignore them.

      • This reminds me of this quote:

        “There’s a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious—makes you so sick at heart—that you can’t take part. You can’t even passively take part. And you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve got to make it stop. And you’ve got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it that unless you’re free, the machine will be prevented from working at all.”

        ― Mario Savio

        • If he was issued “a weapon of war” then he could not have been issued an “AR-15”. Chipman was issued either an M-16 or an M4. M-16’s and M4’s are actual weapons of war. The modern AR-15 is the severely disabled brother of the M16 and M4. It might look like the rest of the family but is nowhere near as useful.

        • The modern AR-15 is the severely disabled brother

          I would not go so far as “SEVERELY” disabled… Granted, some of the lower end pieces (the majority of ARs in civilian hands) ARE less reliable, however at the higher end there are ARs that are MORE capable and reliable than anything the military issues… I own at least two custom (GHOST?) ARs that I would put up against ANY comparable piece that the military has… I also have a Windham (the original “Bushmaster”) in 7.62x.39 that will shame anything they have…

      • as prohibition has taught us…breeding disrespect for the law by passing laws that won’t be respected sets a bad precedent….

  2. Oh you lieing p o s. You were issued an AR that had a giggle switch. Fck U
    And if it’s still a thing the second ammendment says I Can Own A Weapon of War, doesn’t say I have the right to be armed if I jump through federal hoops.

    • Yes, but we are missing the point of we fall into that argument. The entire purpose of the 2nd is to ensure that the citizens do own everything the gov has.
      “Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms each man against his own bosom. Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American… The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people.” Tench Coxe

      • Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves?

        If you combine ALL gun owners in America we have the largest standing armed force in world… I would think that alone would give concern to certain bad actors (China, Iran, Russia, North Korea) Most of whom appear to have SOME influence over the current administration and a number of members of both Houses…

  3. Since I have all that on file several time over I’m okay, right?
    How many background checks is enough? How many print cards is enough? How many 2×2 passport photos is enough?

    • It is weird because the checks and stamps are tied to the guns. So you buy gun one, you pass, you get it, you buy four more, you pass. Even though you may have silencers, SBRs, and machine guns, it is still illegal if you build yourself another sbr unless you get another check and stamp. And once you have the guns, unless you get them confiscated, they aren’t really reevaluated to see if you are still good to own them. Really you won’t be flagged until you try to buy/register another and fail the check.

      • It’s weird because it’s about the $$ and nothing else. It was meant to price people out of the market.

        Back when the NFA passed $200 was real, serious money. You could rent a whole house, not an apartment a house, for $20/month (nationwide average). A Tommy gun in 1934, a M1921A, had an MSRP of $175. So the stamp was more than doubling the cost of a Chicago Typewriter.

        But the price of a stamp wasn’t pegged to inflation, so today it’s a *meager* $200. If the stamps had been pegged to inflation a tax stamp right now would be about $3,925.

        Which is illustrative of how intelligent and forward looking Congress is about not just guns but also monetary policy… but that’s another barrel of racist tropes… er, kettle of fish.

    • Exactly.

      When I had a CCW in Illinois I was printed and had to undergo a background recheck every 15 -16 days. My picture is in the FBIs bio-metric database along with my prints. Illinois runs far more NICS checks then any other state, for a FOID you get one a year and doing the math years ago when all other variables were taken out, CCW holders went through FTIP and NICS checks every 15. something days. The FOID and and CCW come with your DL picture on it but yet on the application you had to download your passport photo.
      From this very website here is the link:
      https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/nics-checks-reveal-americans-changing-gun-purchasing-preferences/

      Look at the column “Permit Recheck”.

      It’s one of the reasons I moved out of the hellhole known as Illinois along with the fact that the state is on the verge of bankruptcy. Tax everything but don’t address the issues that caused the state to be in the shape it’s in.

      As for this David Chipman IMO I think people should take a look into this chodes background. He claims two helicopters were shot down during the assault on the Branch Davidians compound in Waco.
      The problem is that didn’t happen so the next ATF director cant tell fact from fantasy.
      He will fit right in with Bidens group of nutjobs but that spells trouble for anyone who believes in The Constitution and The Bill Of Rights. That’s a rather large problem.

      • He must have been reading “Unintended Consequences” and got it mixed up with reality. IIRC Henry Bowman shot down 2 ATF helicopters with a 20mm Oerlikon.

        • Actually, according to the “Forgotten Weapons” website, Bowman used a Solothurn S18-1000 anti-tank rifle, not a Oerlikon.

        • I did last year hence “IL sucks so I moved “.

          I moved and within two weeks after getting a DL in my new state I received a letter from the Illinois State Police. It demanded that send them my FOID and CCW. While they have no legal way to enforce it, I sent then to them with a letter saying that I wouldn’t spend another cent in Illinois.

          Sorry Underwood Ammo but since you are in Illinois I wont buy any of your ammo until you move out of that crap hole.

          It’s actually funny that there are a bunch of people that have never been to a “free” state. Illinois rapes law abiding gun owners, lets murders out on house arrest and are just getting started. They have a governor who bought the office and holds super majorities in both state houses. When the Covid-19 thing dies down he will come after law abiding gun owners hard, they just don’t realize it.

          The best part of all of this is that out of 102 counties in Illinois, 92 are pure red. The largest one (Cook- where most of the gun crimes are because of Chicago) offsets all of the votes in the rest of the state.

          That’s one of the reasons I GTFO along with a couple of other reasons.

      • LOL me too, so don’t feel like the Lone Ranger.
        What worries me is Chipman actually believes he is in a war against American citizens who happen to be gunowners

    • ATF’s rep is not a good one…frequently looking to other agencies to bail them out of situations they create…

    • To be entirely fair I don’t remember federal LE ever explicitly stating that it’s “at peace” with the population.

      But from drugs to poverty we sure do declare a fair number of domestic “wars”.

  4. “the same gun that was issued to me as a member of [the] ATF SWAT team” That’s a lie and we don’t need a liar as the Director of the ATF. The weapons issued to the ATF SWAT teams are capable of full automatic fire. I don’t have that on my AR15 because it doesn’t exist.

    • I don’t have that on my AR15 because it doesn’t exist.

      Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm… SOME people COULD have purchased/modified available parts to convert an AR to full auto/burst fire… Kits are/were available, at least that’s what I’ve heard… Personally I would never do something like that, it’s against the law or regulation or whatever…

      • ” it’s against the law or regulation or whatever…”

        but it shouldn’t be…………

      • very common back in the eighties when the parts were easily available…probably a lot of them out there….

      • Well, testically speaking, he MIGHT be correct.

        Colt’s original select-fire 604, the one that the USAF bought, and called ‘M16,’ was marked in big, block letters and numbers on the left side of the magazine well ‘AR-15.’ Sure, the USAF CALLED them ‘M16s,’ but Colt said that they were ‘AR-15s.’ AR-15s with three-position selectors. Machine guns.
        So, there goes THAT argument. Sorry.

  5. So having been investigated by the FBI and a few alphabet soup agencies, the states of California, Nevada, Michigan, New Jersey, and the SEC, this is not sufficiently investigated. Just one more investigation. Sounds like the car of gun control, just one more law and it will all be better.

  6. “To me, if you want to have a weapon of war(M16), the same gun that was issued to me as a member of [the] ATF SWAT team(M16), it makes sense that you would have to pass a background check, the gun would have to be in your name, and there would be a picture and fingerprints on file,” (NFA requirement for a machinegun)

    Just reread his comment. If he was referring to the M16, that he was probably issued, there wasn’t anything factually false about what he said above. Of course, he conflated AR-15’s with M16’s.

    • He did that on purpose. The anti’s eat it up. OMG anyone can have a weapon of war, oh look, theres AR’s being sold everywhere, Num Nuts said there weapons of war, he was even issued one when he was an operator operating operationally .

  7. I am hoping Clinton’s reason for why he lost is true.
    And a whole gaggle of blue team are milling around in 2022 saying what just happened.

  8. Did he just admit that SWAT members are soldiers employed against US citizens?
    At least he has one honest thing to say.

  9. Like I keep sayin, only time dems are transparent is when they do sh*t like this!!

  10. Good grief. I don’t even shoot mine that much, but ff the cops can have them, we can have them.

    EQUAL. PROTECTION. UNDER. THE. LAW.

      • And if in the hands of a Federal Agent, it’s termed as a “personal defense weapon” PDW.

        See how that word dance works? In my hands, it’s automatically intended for offense. In theirs, it’s automatically defaulted as defensive. Regardless that it’s actually the other way around in real life.

        • Stand in awe of the flawless wisdom of the inestimable ‘I Haz A Question’.

          As it was, is and ever shall be.

          All Hail.

  11. Well people, I think we have tolerated the national police army disguised as regulatory agencies long enough. The Constitution does not authorize them. There may be a need for them, but their powers need to be limited to what is a law passed by congress and constitutional. Time we put a stop to personal agenda all of a sudden becoming counterfeit law.

  12. Yes, call the AR-15 a weapon of war. The entire purpose of the 2nd amendment is to protect weapons of war so that we the people can resist tyranny and foreign invasions.
    The moment that weapons of war were no longer allowed for civilians should’ve been the moment every military general remembered his oath to the constitution and removed the unconstitutional government of all power by all means necessary.

      • Yes, exactly that.

        Also note that there exists almost no category of gun that isn’t a weapon of war. If the rhetorical trick isn’t stomped flat from the beginning, there will be no stopping point.

  13. Golly gee, I remember being on an entry team holding a Remington 870 in my hands. Is that a weapon of War that should be regulated like a machine gun?

    • Excellent point. When fighting in a “war”, regardless of the definition of the word, ANY object deployed as a weapon in that context is a “weapon of war”. In addition to any firearm, that includes vehicles, knives, bayonets, spears, fists, feet, rocks, sticks, pipes, garden tools, golf clubs, adult toys, or any other weapon or improvised object that is wielded or deployed with the intention of defending against or overcoming an enemy. Said differently, nearly anything can be used as a “weapon in a war”, rendering the phrase essentially meaningless.

  14. IF he gets confirmed there is going to be a shitload of “instant” felons in the US… Resist and die? or comply and serve… I serve no man…

  15. i wouldnt exactly call it a fire sale…
    but at psa right now complete pistol lowers with the sba3 brace only cost as much as one with the kak brace
    theres usually at least a 100 to 150 dollar premium for the sba3 braced lowers

  16. And why did ATF issue agents weapons of war? Who is the ATF planning to wage war against?

  17. 1. My AR didn’t come to me as select fire like his did in ATF SWAT.
    2. Aren’t background checks already done by none other than ATF when we buy guns?
    3. 20 ARs at one time and government doesn’t know. Really guy? You think .gov don’t know about one much less 20?
    4. These policies just protect the criminal. Yep sure do. Those very laws, not policies that are not enforced already are what protect the criminal, by proxy, .gov is protecting the criminal.
    Basically, anyone can pick this guys statements apart like no one’s business. The problem I see is the same shit comes out of his mouth that comes out of alot of police chiefs mouth…regulate regulate. As far a weapon of war, ANYTHING can be a weapon of war, literally anything. Make sure we keep a lamp post open for this guy when the time comes.

    • Aren’t background checks already done by none other than ATF when we buy guns?

      No, FBI runs the National Instant Criminal Background Check System..

      • If there is a 4473 filled out, when the FFL goes out business the 4473s go to the ATF.
        They have warehouses filled with boxes of them, kind of like the end of “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark” The FBI is the one who runs the NICS just to make sure you aren’t a “prohibited person”. It’s all BS.

        A gun trace starts with an agency contacting a manufacturer who in turns says when they sold the gun to a distributor who then in turn says what “shop” bought the gun who then in turn finds what FFL did the transfer. Then they original “owner” is found. From there it can get quite fuzzy. More BS.

        • when the FFL goes out business the 4473s go to the ATF.

          Appreciate the (unnecessary) education, however… The issue I responded to was concerning “NICS background checks” which ARE performed by the FBI not the ATF… Should the issue EVER come up as to what happens to a form 4473 IF an FFL goes out of business I will most certainly reference YOUR information… Thanks for playing…

  18. Be both casually non-compliant and actively disobedient.
    Defiant and loudly disobedient should everyone’s default setting to any and all such dictates.
    Best summed up as ” F#$k Around And Find Out”

  19. Don’t just call your senators and representatives and raise hell…Send emails and letters too..PROTEST….Make your voice heard loudly…This is how the liberals are beating us… Time to play their game..

  20. I don’t care if he gets confirmed or not as the yea or nay vote is immaterial.

    No one tapped for BATFE director is going to be pro gun or pro 2A. That would require them to advocate stripping their own agency of powers to make it the BAT or simply disbanding the agency.

    Such a person would never be considered for the position. So, IMHO, who is actually appointed matters somewhere between “little” and “not at all”.

  21. He can be show publicly to be a fool at his hearings. “Name one country that issues semiautomatic AR-15s to its military forces.” If no army uses it, how can it be a weapon of war? After demonstrating that he doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground, it will give cover for moderate Dems to vote against him based on incompetence if they toss the filibuster for non-judicial nominees.

    • Britain did in the Falklands…but many were quickly discarded as the enemy used the same weapon but with select-fire…and were quickly picked-up off the battlefield and pressed into service…

      • No. Britain’s battle rifle during that era was the L1A1, a semi-auto version of the FN FAL. Argentina used select-fire FALs. Neither side had ANY AR-15s, M16s, Brown Besses, or Webley-Vickers .50-80s for that matter. Just FALs.

  22. The communist infiltration of law enforcement is complete. This rat is another communist. Another communist. He knows the Second Amendment exists so citizens have the arms to counter state tyranny. He is afraid he might face citizens armed as he is. Oppression by the state is the goal of communists like this snake.

    We will never surrender to communist tyranny. Never.

    Shouldnt the ATF exist to bolster and support the constitution and not suppress it ?

  23. Not helping

    A mass shooting has been reported in Bryan, Texas, according to reports. KBTX-TV reported at least six people have been injured following a shooting at a business.
    The TV station said multiple people are in critical condition and there’s an active police situation.

  24. ATF Director Nominee:

    According to THE Creepy Beijing Biden it’s the A-F-T… He repeated it several times in his little announcement this morning..

  25. The only thing I can really see possible is the tax stamp angle being approved. Let’s say that happens with braces. You think 10-15 million braces are gonna get Registered and have $200 paid on a tax stamp? 🤣 I’d worry more about the price of food in the coming years.

    This is all low hanging fruit/lip service and a distraction from huge problems headed our way.

    Plastic trinkets won’t be high up on everyone’s list when a piece of chicken is $25….

    • Price of food, medicine… basically everything.

      Combined with supply chain issues that no one cares to resolve… yeah, rough.

      Oh well, it’s a banana republic. How you like them bananas? (They’re $15 each.)

    • You’re right, of course, but only up to a point.

      ‘Plastic trinkets’ are only the beginning, now that They, the occupying power, smell blood in the water. Their interest is drawn fully back to Gun Control, all other problems–from the Border to White Privilege to Systemic Racism to Global Warming–have shrunk to insignificance, and if They achieve victory here, They will not stop at a first successful attempt.

      I still say, despite the flak, that we’d all have been better off if the guy who invented the ‘arm brace’ had been eaten at birth.

  26. not all tax stamps require $200…don’t think ATF is really interested in regulating these things…but they will do as they are told by their masters…..

  27. GO FOR IT ON BACK GROUND CHECKS . CRIMINAL FINE WAY TO GET AROUND IT .
    OK GO AFTER BAD GUY WITH MY BLESSING

  28. They the commiecrats can pass anything they want to in the House. Passing any anti-2nd Amendment bills in the Senate can be difficult. It they get rid of the filibusterer in the Senate then we are doomed for 4 years or more. Even when Republicans have control they do not do anything to progress our rights forward on the 2nd Amendment. Just do not hold your breathe and think Republicans have our backs on the 2nd Amendment. As for the ATF nominee, did we really think he was going to put a moderate in that position.

  29. If he was issued “a weapon of war” then he could not have been issued an “AR-15”. Chipman was issued either an M-16 or an M4. M-16’s and M4’s are actual weapons of war. The modern AR-15 is the severely disabled brother of the M16 and M4. It might look like the rest of the family but is nowhere near as useful.

    • For your amusement, do an internet search for ‘Colt 604.’ That’s a select-fire Ar-15. No, really. The carbine version was the ‘605.’ Also select-fire.

  30. 2A <— would make no sense if we weren’t offorded “weapons of war” …which most of us already never get t use …and by that definition on then I guess that means all “weapons” …I was issued a pistol also…we had boot action rifles….how about muzzle loaders…this guy is another communist.

  31. Firearms ? what firearms ? a few 4473’s with my name on them ? So what ? LISTEN SONNY, at my age you sometimes forget where you left things, I dunno I lost them somewhere, so what ?
    you wanna go in and look ? Sure, go ahead!, mind the dogs they bite ! And it IS their home…. The Thing that stops that scenario from happening ? It’s a mile to the Gate, you can’t see it from the house…. I never give out the code, and I shoot trespassers, Habla or No Habla, no le-ase'(no difference)… Hopefully the public Vote on secession will occur in November, and we can be done with the communists, and the rest of the scum !

  32. Actually when the 2nd Amendment was ratified, it was not uncommon for the run of the mill citizen to have SUPERIOR weapons to those of the military (a Brown Bess, smooth bore musket is not that good compared to a rifle). The 2nd Amendment was meant to keep the citizens on par, or better armed, than the military or police, since all able bodied males were considered part of the militia, and were expected to provide their own weapons. There has not been a single gun control law passed that is constitutional as the President’s and Congressional Authority is specifically spelled out in the Constitution, and NO WHERE does the Constitution give either the President (via E.A., which is NOT a law) or Congress, or any other office of the government, the authority to infringe on ANY Constitutional right. Of course if the 1st Amendment doesn’t count when on the internet, using electrical printing presses, radio, television, or other electronic or high speed methods of communication, then perhaps, if it can be explained “WHY”, then there is room for discussion. Until then any and all “gun control” is illegal, immoral, and unconstitutional.

  33. O…M…G!!! This dude already has suggested that the AR-15 is a weapon of war and should be confiscated as any unregistered machine gun would be. He’s sure to set records for colossal non-compliance before he’s thrown out for utter ignorance and disregard for 120 million peaceable, lawful citizens.

  34. Semi auto rifles are not machine guns.
    Speaking or regulating. Every anti 2A politician must be required to a full indoctrination of why the Founding Fathers instituted the first and Second amendments. The only reason governments wants “gun” control is to ultimately subjugate “We the people”.
    Historical note: Circa 1938 Germany confiscated firearms from Jews (and only the Jews). Once that was enacted Germany had Public Health Care and justifies firearm confiscation from German on the basis of the Health Care laws. SOUND FAMILIAR?
    Dittos: with subjugation in 1750’s of the Plains Native Americans.
    We the people have a moral responsibility to fully reject tyrannical government. First at the ballot box then as the Founding Fathers understood by other means. They knew, as you do, that “Pitchforks and Rakes” don’t work as well as “arms” (as in firearms). So, Mr ATF Wannabee, your words and ideas only work with useful idiots. Molon Labe

  35. No officer of law has ever used an AR15, they are M4’s or MP5’s. He is a liar. Show me a picture with his AR15 that is not an M4. Besides, as a vet…. my prints are on file with the FBI.

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