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Katrina-inspired security bill falters

Emergency Management Alert, January 9, 2007

Katrina-inspired security  bill falters

In a year that saw the passage of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, a bill that received less attention was the Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act, which faded into history along with the 109th Congress. If passed, the law would have barred first responders from confiscating firearms during national emergencies.

Introduced in April, it incited debate that went on without abatement throughout the year, though talk narrowed quickly from emergency management to gun control. Advocates of the bill said that bearing arms in the chaos following disaster was the only way for citizens to protect themselves. Opponents said it was first responders who'd be in peril, and that the way to avoid chaos was to take the guns away. Sample comments from a July 25 session in the House:

• Cosponsor Rep. Barbara Cubin (R-WY): "Nowhere does the principle of liberty exist more fully than in the right to protect yourself, your loved ones and your property. With the breakdown of law and order in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, thousands were confronted with grave threats to their health and safety. Calls to 911 went unanswered. Police failed to stop the violence and looting. Many of the law-abiding people of New Orleans were on their own to protect themselves."

• Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY): "There is really only one word to describe this bill: Insane. The proper title of this bill should be The Right to Sue Cops and National Guardsmen Act of 2006....In some cases, [weapons] may have been seized because law enforcement did not want guns inside a public shelter. In other cases, people evacuated and left guns behind, and the police collected these guns so they would not fall into the hands of looters." The bill, he said, "creates a private right of action for gun owners to sue personally cops, National Guardsmen, FBI officers, and other law enforcement personnel who are simply carrying out their jobs following a disaster or emergency situation

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