Originally published on NSSF. Republished with permission.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, applauds the U.S. Senate for voting to confirm current Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Director Robert Cekada to lead the federal agency charged with fighting violent crime, disrupting illegal gun trafficking to prohibited persons, and regulating the firearm industry. The Senate confirmed Director Cekada to his role in a bipartisan vote of 59-39. Director Cekada is the first ATF director to be confirmed after being nominated by a Republican president.
“Members of the entire firearm industry — as well as all law-abiding gun owners and Americans concerned about crime and neighborhood safety — celebrate the U.S. Senate for giving confirmation to President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the next permanent director of the ATF. Director Robert Cekada has decades of law enforcement experience and will no doubt bring his extensive background and understanding of the firearm industry and support for Second Amendment rights and the rule of law to this critical federal agency,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President & General Counsel. “Law-abiding gun owners and the entire firearm and ammunition industry deserve a leader of the ATF who will focus on implementing laws passed by Congress, holding those who break the law accountable and always respecting the Constitutional rights of Americans. That’s exactly what we are getting with Director Cekada.”
In February, after then-Deputy Director Cekada sat before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing, NSSF’s Keane sent a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) expressing the industry’s “strong and unqualified support” for confirming Deputy Director Cekada to be the Senate-confirmed director of the bureau that regulates the firearm and ammunition industry.
“Mr. Cekada has dedicated his life to serving the American people and advancing public safety,” NSSF’s letter stated. “During his more than three decades in law enforcement, including over 20 years with the ATF, Mr. Cekada has distinguished himself as an effective professional consistently recognized for his leadership capabilities and proven record of enforcing the law… Mr. Cekada, without question, meets all the qualifications we consider necessary to effectively perform the duties and responsibilities of Director of the ATF.”
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