By Dave Workman
By a vote of 59-39, the U.S. Senate has confirmed Robert Cekada as the new director of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
His first order of business was to sign notices of a new rulemaking package aimed at fixing what the National Shooting Sports Foundation called “punitive regulations published during the Biden administration, when the ATF was used as a political weapon to force policies intended to hobble the firearm industry and infringe on Second Amendment rights.”
On hand for the announcement was Adam Kraut, executive director of the Second Amendment Foundation. In a statement, he observed, “It was refreshing to hear Acting Attorney General (Todd) Blanche state that the Second Amendment will no longer be treated as a second-class right under the current administration. The formal rescission of the pistol brace rule – one that SAF fought hard in court – is a solid start. We are encouraged by the information the DOJ and ATF have provided regarding the proposed new rules and look forward to reading them in full.”
In a statement released shortly after the brief signing ceremony, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Larry Keane observed, “This is what ‘promises made, promises kept’ looks like. President Donald Trump made it clear that his administration would respect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens and would end the unfair targeting of the firearm industry through a special-interest antigun policy agenda. This is more than turning the page on the weaponization of government against a lawful industry that provides the means for citizens to exercise their Second Amendment rights. This is the dawning of a new era. NSSF is tremendously grateful to President Trump, Acting Attorney General Blanche and Director Cekada for their fair application of the law and true respect for Second Amendment rights.”
The new rules package has five components, including Repeal, Modernize, Reduce Burden, Clarify and Align. The proposed rules should be placed on the Federal Register within days.
According to Government Executive, Cekada has been with ATF for more than 20 years, having joined in 2005 as a special agent. During his confirmation hearing in February, Cekada disagreed with the notion that ATF should be abolished, instead saying the agency was reviewing all of its regulations. Wednesday’s proposed rule changes are the result of that process, but Cekada said there is more to be done.
Among the changes is a proposal to “formally rescind regulatory changes made in 2023 (during the Biden administration) regarding firearms equipped with stabilizing braces. Multiple federal courts have found that the 2023 rule – as codified in 27 CFR 478.11 and 479.11 – violated the Administrative Procedure Act, and the rule has been enjoined, stayed, or vacated across numerous jurisdictions. This proposal removes regulatory language that has been largely unenforceable, restoring the regulatory definitions to be consistent with the underlying statutory definitions.”
Another proposal will remove two sentences from ATFs three regulatory definitions of “machine gun” that previously incorporated bump stocks into those definitions. According to the ATF announcement, “This action responds directly to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Garland v. Cargill (2024), which held that semiautomatic rifles equipped with bump stocks do not satisfy the statutory definition of ‘machine gun’ under the National Firearms Act. This rescission aligns ATF’s regulatory text with the statute and the Court’s binding legal interpretation.”
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