Vote today on Preventing Firearms from being Seized During an Emergency

Well, Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) has offered his language as an amendment to the Homeland Security appropriations bill (HR 5441). His amendment will probably be voted on later today.

Yesterday, on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Vitter documented the gun confiscation that occurred in his state last September. "Certain law-enforcement authorities confiscated legally-held firearms by law-abiding citizens," Vitter said. "Not a few, not a dozen, not two dozen, but literally thousands were confiscated by law-enforcement officials."

Vitter noted how even after a district court ordered the guns to be returned, New Orleans police superintendent Warren Riley stated in a June 6 radio interview that his officers would "confiscate guns again" if another similar disaster should strike New Orleans.

Earlier this year, the state of Louisiana enacted legislation to stop this kind of abuse. Vitter acknowledged that. But legislation is still needed, he said, to prevent federal officials from engaging in the same activity. (Keep in mind that federal agents also participated in the gun thefts last September in New Orleans.)

Vitter's amendment would prohibit the executive department from temporarily or permanently seizing firearms during a disaster or emergency. . . .