David Howland Chipman (born 1966) is an American former ATF agent and gun control advocate who was most recently the nominee to serve as the director of the

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and preven ...

in the

Biden administration Joe Biden's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 46th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Joe Biden, his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat from Delaw ...

; however, this nomination was withdrawn.

Early life and education

Chipman was born in

Hanover, New Hampshire Hanover is a town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university Dartmouth College, the U.S. Army Corps of ...

and raised in

Oakland County, Michigan Oakland County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of the metropolitan Detroit area, located northwest of the city. As of the 2020 Census, its population was 1,274,395, making it the second-most populous county in Michigan, b ...

. After graduating from

Phillips Exeter Academy (not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God) , location = 20 Main Street , city = Exeter, New Hampshire , zipcode ...

, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in justice from American University and a Master of Science in management from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consiste ...

Career

Chipman spent 25 years as a special agent in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, monitoring firearm trafficking from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. After leaving the ATF, Chipman became a senior policy advisor at

Giffords Giffords is an American advocacy and research organization focused on promoting gun control. The organization draws its name from of one of its co-founders, Gabby Giffords, a former Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Rep. G ...

. In late-2013, he joined

ShotSpotter ShotSpotter Inc. is a publicly traded, Fremont, California-based company known for its controversial gunfire locator service. ShotSpotter claims it can identify whether or not a gunshot was fired in an area in order to dispatch law enforcement, ...

as the senior vice president of U.S. public safety solutions. Chipman was nominated as director of the ATF in April 2021, following an announcement from President Joe Biden. On April 12, 2021, his nomination was sent to the Senate. On May 26, 2021, a hearing on his nomination was held before the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nomination ...

. The committee deadlocked on his nomination in a

party-line vote A party-line vote in a deliberative assembly (such as a constituent assembly, parliament, or legislature) is a vote in which a substantial majority of members of a political party vote the same way (usually in opposition to the other political ...

on June 24, 2021. On September 9, 2021, the White House announced that it would withdraw Chipman’s nomination due to bipartisan backlash over his stances on gun control.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chipman, David 1966 births Living people People from Hanover, New Hampshire People from Oakland County, Michigan Phillips Exeter Academy alumni American University alumni ATF agents Johns Hopkins University alumni American gun control activists