<![CDATA[Real Clear Staff - Articles - RealClearPolitics]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/authors/rss/archive/22547.xmlAuthor <![CDATA[After 7 Years, Senate Confirms ATF Director]]> Thu, 01 Aug 2013 00:00:00 -0500 Earlier this year, the Senate blocked gun control legislation. But on Wednesday it mustered the votes to confirm the first approved director at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives since that agency was reorganized in 2006.

That may seem like a small Senate decision as lawmakers rush home for the August recess, but it was never a sure thing. In the wake of the December massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and the Senate’s decision not to adopt expanded background checks and other gun measures backed by President Obama and senators of both parties, the National Rifle Association’s long-held objections to any confirmed ATF...]]>