Here it is folks. What we’ve been waiting for is finally here: the Trump administration nominated a new ATF director.
Now, aside from the argument about whether the ATF should actually exist or not (Some say that it should continue to exist to help enforce out 2A rights. Some say that it shouldn’t continue to exist because it has been used to curtail our 2A rights. I’m with the latter side on that argument.), whoever becomes the new ATF director will have much to do with how our gun rights are treated on the federal level.
So, the question is: did they nominate someone who will take their oath office seriously and be a 2A absolutist, or is the nominee someone who is just going to use the ATF to continue to push gun control like it’s done for the last few decades (at least)?
It’s a good question. Michael Clements gives us details on the nominee:
President Donald Trump has nominated Robert Cekada, a 20-year veteran of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), to be its new director. The ATF has been run by interim directors since former Director Steve Dettelbach resigned just before Trump began his second term in January.
The nomination was referred to the Senate’s Judiciary Committee. Cekada has been an ATF deputy director since April 2024.
Second Amendment advocacy groups praised the choice.
Erich Pratt, senior vice president for Gun Owners of America (GOA), said Cekada should reform the agency.
To be frank, I have mixed feelings about Cekada’s credentials. The fact that he’s been in the ATF during its strongly anti-2A period doesn’t encourage me. On the other hand, support from 2A advocacy groups does give me hope that this guy isn’t one of the clowns that Biden kept putting there.
When it comes down to it, if Cekada is confirmed, we’ll just have to see how he does.
I am hopeful that he will take his oath of office seriously, though, and that will support the Second Amendment completely without restriction.
