The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives encouraged people to celebrate Valentine’s Day by turning in their criminal ex-lovers.
The ATF urged people to provide information detailing their exes’ involvements in “illegal gun activity.”
“Valentine’s Day can still be fun even if you broke up,” the federal agency wrote on its official Twitter, “Do you have information about a former (or current) partner involved in illegal gun activity?”
The ATF’s comment was met with online ridicule and condemnation.
Conservative political pundit Dana Loesch criticized the ATF for hypocritically seeking to arrest American citizens for gun crimes when the agency also played a critical role in the "Fast and Furious" gun-running operation.
J.D. Vance, a conservative-populist candidate for the U.S. Senate in Ohio, reprimanded the ATF for not prioritizing bringing the Mexican drug cartels to justice.
Justin Amash, the former lone congressional libertarian turned podcaster, called for the ATF’s abolishment in response.
Matt Walsh of the Daily Wire called the ATF’s post “psychotic.”
In September of 2021, the Biden administration withdrew David Chipman’s nomination to run the ATF after he refused to answer questions posed by members of the United States Senate leading to concerns that if he were to become the director of the ATF he would implement draconian regulations on firearms thus restricting access to rifles commonly used for hunting and self-defense.
Chipman told the Senate that he supported an outright ban on AR-15 style rifles.
Chipman is a former ATF agent who currently serves as a policy adviser for gun control advocacy groups.
While serving in the ATF, Chipman was stationed in Waco, Texas, and worked as a “case agent in [the] Branch Davidian trial.” The Branch Davidians were a cult that lived in Waco.
In 1993, the federal government served the group with a search warrant leading to a violent shootout that resulted in the death of 76 cult members.
While participating in a Reddit “ask me anything” thread, Chipman lied about the events of the 1993 massacre. Chipman told Redditors participating in the thread that the Branch Davidians were using 0.50 caliber Barrett rifles to shoot down helicopters belonging to the Texas Air National Guard.
On his show, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson addressed Chipman’s lies. Carlson said, “No one aboard a federal helicopter was shot down or injured that day. The helicopters didn’t crash.”
Post a Comment