Trump ATF Director Nominee Robert Cekada: ‘The ATF’s Mission Is Not to Burden Lawful Gun Owners’

During Wednesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, ATF director nominee Robert Cekada stressed, “The ATF’s mission is not to burden lawful gun owners.”

He also told committee members that “the right to bear arms is a constitutional guarantee” that he is “committed to protecting and preserving.”

Cekada was asked if, as ATF director, he will root out policies and regulations that negatively impact the exercise of the Second Amendment.

He answered, “We [will] follow President Trump’s Second Amendment executive order to review all ATF policies, procedures, and regulations to ensure that none of those infringe upon the Second Amendment … unnecessarily.”

The Second Amendment Foundation used an X post to praise Cekada’s convictions to the ATF’s role in light of the Second Amendment:

[The Second Amendment Foundation] is very encouraged by ATF Director nominee Robert Cekada saying that ATF’s mission is not to burden lawful gun owners, and it must respect the Second Amendment in its enforcement of federal gun laws. We are hopeful that he will lead ATF in a much better direction than we have seen in recent years, but will be ready to act if he does not.

Breitbart News spent time with Cekada at last month’s 2026 SHOT Show and at ATF’s Las Vegas headquarters. He reiterated again and again his commitment to preventing the ATF from being weaponized against lawful gun owners, as it was in previous administrations.

Cekada was very strong in his convictions regarding the sacrosanctity of lawful gun owners’ Second Amendment rights.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. He enjoys reading Philosophy and novels by Jack Carr and Nelson DeMille. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.