Montana Legislators Pressure Tester to Oppose Chipman for ATF

More than two dozen Montana legislators have signed on to a letter to U.S. Senator Jon Tester to step forward and officially reject the nomination of David Chipman to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

State Senator Greg Hertz spoke to KGVO News on Thursday afternoon about the letter.

“We're trying to get Senator Tester to take a stance on this,” said Hertz. “It should be a very easy choice for the Senator. I think opposing Chipman is the only option if you're a pro-Montana Second Amendment rights person, and it’s widely known that Chipman was a lobbyist for anti gun groups and he has a very long history of being very anti-Second Amendment. He wants to include some of the many popular firearms in America.”

In addition to the many Republicans who have signed on to the letter, Hertz said there are also many pro-Second Amendment Democrats in the Montana Legislature.

“I would guess too, that there are a number of Democrats in the legislature who are pro Second Amendment,” he said. “It seems like Senator Tester is trying to dodge taking a position. So it's really time for the senator to stop avoiding his job and tell the citizens of Montana that he will oppose a radical anti gun lobbyist.”

Hertz said it is clear that Chipman will act immediately to put more restrictions on firearms.

“Well, I think it's obvious from his past history that he's going to push for some type of automatic weapons ban,” he said. “He'll probably put limitations on ammunition and just make it harder for individuals to protect themselves, and for Montana hunters to enjoy the right to choose the weapons that they want and make sure they have the ammunition available to them.”

Hertz said the signers of the letter are from Montana and beyond.

“ For the Republican we have the leadership in both the Senate and the House and that includes President Blasdel and Speaker Wiley Galt. There are over 20 of us, including Attorney General Austin Knudsen, of course along with well over 20 other Attorneys General across the United States, and there are 22 Sportsmen's groups are all opposed to Chipman because he's just terrible on Second Amendment rights.”

The letter urges Senator Tester to ‘stop analyzing’ and ‘feel the urgency’ to officially come out in opposition to Chipman to head the ATF.