This IS the Law

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Macmac

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I tried once to make this public, and the thread was locked. So I am going to post it once more, but i will not haggle, and or discuss it this time.

This is the LAW.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disast..._Protection_Act

http://www.theorator.com/bills109/s2599.html

109th CONGRESS

2d Session



S. 2599



To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to prohibit the confiscation of firearms during certain national emergencies.


IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES


April 7, 2006
Mr. VITTER (for himself, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. ENZI, Mr. SANTORUM, Mr. COBURN, Mrs. DOLE, and Mr. SUNUNU) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


A BILL

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to prohibit the confiscation of firearms during certain national emergencies.


Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act of 2006'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:

(1) The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States states that, `A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.' and Congress has repeatedly recognized this language as protecting an individual right.

(2) In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, State and local law enforcement and public safety service organizations were overwhelmed and could not fulfill the safety needs of the citizens of the State of Louisiana.

(3) In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the safety of these citizens, and of their homes and property, was threatened by instances of criminal activity.

(4) Many of these citizens lawfully kept firearms for the safety of themselves, their loved ones, their businesses, and their property, as guaranteed by the Second Amendment, and used their firearms, individually or in concert with their neighbors, for protection against crime.

(5) In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, certain agencies confiscated the firearms of these citizens, in contravention of the Second Amendment, depriving these citizens of the right to keep and bear arms and rendering them helpless against criminal activity.

(6) These confiscations were carried out at gunpoint, by nonconsensual entries into private homes, by traffic checkpoints, by stoppage of boats, and otherwise by force.

(7) The citizens from whom firearms were confiscated were either in their own homes or attempting to flee the flooding and devastation by means of motor vehicle or boat, and were accosted, stopped, and arbitrarily deprived of their private property and means of protection.

(8) The means by which the confiscations were carried out, which included intrusion into the home, temporary detention of persons, and seizures of property, constituted unreasonable searches and seizures and deprived these citizens of liberty and property without due process of law in violation of fundamental rights under the Constitution of the United States.

(9) Many citizens who took temporary refuge in emergency housing were prohibited from storing firearms on the premises, and were thus treated as second-class citizens who had forfeited their constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

(10) At least 1 highly-qualified search and rescue team was prevented from joining in relief efforts because the team included individuals with firearms, although these individuals had been deputized as Federal law enforcement officers.

(11) These confiscations and prohibitions, and the means by which they were carried out, deprived the citizens of Louisiana not only of their right to keep and bear arms, but also of their rights to personal security, personal liberty, and private property, all in violation of the Constitution and laws of the United States.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON CONFISCATION OF FIREARMS DURING CERTAIN NATIONAL EMERGENCIES.

Title VII of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5201 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

`SEC. 706. FIREARMS POLICIES.

`(a) Prohibition on Confiscation of Firearms- No officer or employee of the United States (including any member of the uniformed services), person operating pursuant to or under color of Federal law, receiving Federal funds, under the control of any Federal official, or providing services to such an officer, employee, or other person, while acting in support of relief from a major disaster or emergency, may--

`(1) temporarily or permanently seize, or authorize seizure of, any firearm the possession of which is not prohibited under Federal or State law, other than for forfeiture in compliance with Federal law or as evidence in a criminal investigation;

`(2) require the registration of any firearm for which registration is not required by Federal or State law;

`(3) prohibit the possession of any firearm, or promulgate any rule, regulation, or order prohibiting the possession of any firearm, in any place or by any person where such possession is not otherwise prohibited by Federal or State law; or

`(4) prohibit the carrying of a firearm by any person otherwise authorized to carry firearms under Federal or State law, solely because such person is operating under the direction, control, or supervision of a Federal agency in support of relief from a major disaster or emergency.

`(b) Private Rights of Action-

`(1) IN GENERAL- Any individual aggrieved by a violation of this section may seek relief in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress against any person who subjects such individual, or causes such individual to be subjected, to the deprivation of any of the rights, privileges, or immunities secured by this section.

`(2) REMEDIES- In addition to any existing remedy in law or equity, under any law, an individual aggrieved by the seizure or confiscation of a firearm in violation of this section may bring an action for the return of such firearm in the United States district court in the district in which that individual resides or in which such firearm may be found.

`(3) ATTORNEY FEES- In any action or proceeding to enforce this section, the court shall award the prevailing party, other than the United States, a reasonable attorney's fee as part of the costs.'.
END



Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act of 2006
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act of 2006 was a bill introduced in the United States Congress intended to prohibit the confiscation of legally-possessed firearms during a disaster. Its provisions became law in the form of the Vitter Amendment to the Department Of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2007.


[edit] Background
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans Chief of Police Eddie Compass ordered police and National Guard units to confiscate firearms from citizens who remained in the area.

The National Rifle Association and Second Amendment Foundation filed a lawsuit against the city of New Orleans to place an emergency injunction forbidding such seizures from continuing. A temporary restraining order was granted September 23, 2005.[1]

The Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act of 2006 (H.R.5013, S.2599) was a bill introduced March 28, 2006 by Republican Congressman Bobby Jindal in the House and on April 7, 2006 by Republican Senator David Vitter in the Senate.[2] On August 4, 2006, it was referred to committee.

On July 12, 2006 Senator Vitter proposed Senate Amendment 4615 (the Vitter Amendment) to Department Of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2007 (H.R. 5441), to prohibit the confiscation of a firearm during an emergency or major disaster if the possession of such firearm is not prohibited under Federal or State law.[3] The proposed amendment was subsequently modified to contain the provisions of the Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act of 2006. However, the temporary surrender of a firearm could be required "as a condition for entry into any mode of transportation used for rescue or evacuation".


[edit] Passage
On July 13, 2006, the Vitter Amendment passed the United States Senate 84 to 16. It was retained by the conference committee. President George W. Bush signed the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act on September 30, 2006 and it became Public Law 109-295.[4]
 
I tried once to make this public, and the thread was locked. So I am going to post it once more, but i will not haggle, and or discuss it this time.
If it was posted once before, and locked, and you dont feel like discussing it then why did you post it again?
 
It could be locked any time now... It wasn't locked because I posted the law, it was locked because the post became off topic quickly, and before i thought it had been seen by enough others who were concerned about gun confiscations.

I believe it is important to be aware of this particular law on guns.

I would prefer it wasn't locked, but what I prefer means very little around here. I would prefer this LAW if need be is then discussed, but which ever way it goes, I have no controll over.

It IS the Law, so do we need to discuss it?
 
Macmac, why do you keep posting information about a law that is over two years old, that has already been discussed here (run a search of the archives), and that protect a citizen's right to defend him or herself during a disaster?
 
Anybody that has been around for the last few years knows about this law.

Ponder this, sometimes citizens brake laws and sometimes governments brake laws.
 
kso, I am aware of that, but never the less that is where I got the info apx 2 weeks ago. At that time I made a copy to my hard drive. and posted what it was unaltered.

All I am trying to do is post what the law is, and in the hopes it would calm some of us down.

For what ever reasons Justin, and I appear to have some personal conflict, but i don't know why. I tried to get that figured out in pm's to him.

I fully expect the thread to be come locked.. As I said all I want is to inform the many who have no idea this is the law.

Is it really so much to ask that others are made aware this 2 year old law is reality?

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see many people are very worried in this time and place, and that they have no idea there is any such laws protecting them.

Once more because this is the internet, all I am trying to do is make others aware.

I don't know for a fact, but I suspect not all that many search the archieves for law they don't know about, and when they see a thread locked they don't bother to look at it for a second.

Perhaps is it totally pointless for me to post 2cents worth on anything at this site. If so then tell me.
 
Justin, I have no idea where the archives are myself. Further more there would be thread after thread on What If , which you lock, with out telling anyone to search the archives.

Please note I do not have anything like 12,000 post count.

ServiceSoon , I can't be responcible for any others breaking the law.

Knowing the laws and our Rights seems to be a better way to avoid anyone breaking any laws. It seems i am breaking them here just trying to inform others.
 
Laws protect people? That’s a new one on me. Adherence to a law might offer protection, but then you have to count on either individuals or the government to adhere to said law. What are the consequences of not following the law?

Let’s look at a disaster situation. If the government confiscates weapons in violation of this law, how much time and money will it take to fight and win in court? Is the court really impartial? Will they nitpick and maybe find in favor of the government because of some technicality?

I don’t believe that laws protect people. Murder is illegal. Still happens regularly. Drunk driving too. I trust governments even less than my fellow serfs. Why is the BATFE oftentimes vague in it’s definitions in its regulations (laws for all intents and purposes)?
 
You'd probably be better off if you posted a link to the current version of the Stafford Act that includes the verbiage you're interested in rather than a Wiki link that doesn't work and a link to a failed bill.

That amendment was adopted later, though, and can be seen in the current version of the act here. Relevant section starts at the bottom of page 69 for those interested.

You are only somewhat right about the act preventing the kind of confiscations we saw after Katrina, at least under current law. They can still "temporarily" confiscate weapons "as a condition for entry into any mode of transportation used for rescue or evacuation during a major disaster or emergency, provided that such temporarily surrendered firearm is returned at the completion of such rescue or evacuation." Require mandatory evacuation and they can confiscate whatever they want. Sure, they have to give it back afterward, but that could take months. Ask anybody that has had to temporarily surrender a firearm to the police for any reason.

Also, every one of those clauses has a sneaky little provision that allows them to confiscate whatever they want as long possession the firearm is prohibited under local, state, or federal law. All they need is a law, even a city ordinance, stating that possession of a firearm in a disaster area is a crime.

Where I think you're missing the boat is that you seem to see this as preventing all confiscations. It does not. Nothing in this law prevents additional regulation at the local, state, or federal level, up to and including registration, bans, or outright confiscation. Basically this amendment to the Stafford Act was a feel-good, look-what-we're-doing-for-gun-rights bill that only said "hey, you LEO agencies can't confiscate things you already don't have the legal authority to confiscate".

If, and I doubt they will, President Obama and the Congress get together and decide to start registration followed by confiscation in a few years this law can't stop them.
 
In addition, the official second ammendment could be changed from "individual right" to "militia only" with one supreme court appointment.
 
You have near 800 posts and can not find the achieves... perhaps you should spend less time calling out the MODS in open forum and posting two year old laws and more time getting the lay of the land. Oh and if you know a link is broken... fix it. A broken link does no good.
 
lucky_fool , My pc is basicly antique and can not read pdf files..

I myself was unaware of this law 2 weeks ago.. I am no legal eagle, so if you could somehow see your way to posting the pdf openly somewhere I would read it.

I have no idea why Wiki moved, or changed this information. I am not even close to the PC generation.

I was simply trying to help.

Gus McCrae I don't know how to fix the broken link, if I did i would be happy to. It worked about 2 weeks ago and now it won't.
 
Macmac said:
I have no idea where the archives are myself.

If you look in the top part of the page, you'll see a green bar that has several links on it starting with "User CP" and ending with "Log Out".

The third link from the right says "Search".

The link that follows is the search results for "Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act"
http://www.thehighroad.org/search.php?searchid=5409282

You will notice that the threads are listed in order of date (so this thread is on top).

This has been discussed many times here.

However, I can understand why you might want to bring it up, a lot of people are afraid of emminant confiscation and such, so I would recommend you add that link to the law to your signature (do that in User CP) that way everyone that reads one of your posts will be reminded of it and you don't have to start threads that may just get locked anyway.

When you paste it into your signature line, use the following code so it will look like this:
READ THIS: Law to prohibit the confiscation of firearms during certain national emergencies
{url=http://www.theorator.com/bills109/s2599.html}READ THIS: Law to prohibit the confiscation of firearms during certain national emergencies{/url}
Just replace every { with a [ and every } with a ]

Macmac said:
I have no idea why Wiki moved, or changed this information.
They didn't, the forum software sometimes mangles long links since it truncates them to display them.

If you would prefer to use the wikipedia link instead of the one at theorator, use the following

{url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stafford_Disaster_Relief_and_Emergency_Assistance_Act}READ THIS: Law to prohibit the confiscation of firearms during certain national emergencies{/url}
(again swapping out the {} for [])
frankly I prefer the link at The Orator since its the actual text of the law, but that's your decision.
 
Zundfolge , Thankyou, and while I don't yet understand all of what you said i will copy this to my computer and investigate the meanings.

For the most part here I have stayed in the Black Powder room, and just recently come out to be in the general area and the tactics to investigate the site more.

Today I just found a way into the archives, at the lower right, but wasn't very able to navigate it.

I am sorry to be such a problem here.

On edit:

Zundfolge, That is the exact same page I saw and the same pop up test that came up with it, from Wiki, but I still don't know why it won't show on the wiki link I provided.

I did as you said and see how it works. So thankyou once again for assisting me.

I had no idea this had already gone into the archives either. Thanks for teaching me, and taking the time to do so. mac.
 
Before this thread hits its inevitable conclusion, I offer this little tale from Greensburg Kansas:

http://gunowners.org/op0824.htm

Greensburg Gun Confiscations
by
Patricia A. Stoneking
Member, Gun Owners of America

I would like to start this report by noting that I have personally spoke with several sources who were directly involved in the incidents that I am about to report that took place in Greensburg, KS in the aftermath of the horrible CAT 5 tornado that ravaged and destroyed that town. I will not be divulging their names in this article as they have requested I not do so....

Guns and ammunition that were collected were taken to a trailer and an ATF agent manned the trailer. When people first came to collect their guns they were asked for proof of ownership such as receipts and serial number lists and they had to fill out a 4473 and get a NICS approval before they could claim their guns. No one had paperwork, receipts, or lists of serial numbers because it had all blown away. Later into the process they quit demanding these items and asked only for a list with make, model and description of the firearm. In one case, in the collection trailer, a gun case was claimed by one man who had a very nice trap shotgun in it and when he opened the undamaged and closed case, he found not his nice BT99 but another damaged gun that did not belong to him. That $1500.00 BT99 has never turned up. One comment made by all sources is that many "nice" guns were never recovered. Every source has reported that little to no care was taken with any of the firearms retrieved and taken into protective custody and they were not catalogued in any fashion. One resident said "they were just thrown in there in piles".
 
Where I think you're missing the boat is that you seem to see this as preventing all confiscations. It does not. Nothing in this law prevents additional regulation at the local, state, or federal level, up to and including registration, bans, or outright confiscation. Basically this amendment to the Stafford Act was a feel-good, look-what-we're-doing-for-gun-rights bill that only said "hey, you LEO agencies can't confiscate things you already don't have the legal authority to confiscate".

I don't think I would characterize it as completely feel-good. After all, had such a law been in place prior to Katrina, it's possible that the abuse of rights and confiscations committed under color of law could have been curtailed or avoided completely.

However, the law is only as good as your lawyer. Without people willing to hold the government's feet to the fire, the law is just ink on paper. This is why its important to support organizations like the NRA and Second Amendment Foundation.
 
It seems to me that if we only discuss topics never before discussed on THR, how long before THR would wither and atrophy?
 
It seems to me that if we only discuss topics never before discussed on THR, how long before THR would wither and atrophy?

The original wasn't locked due to the topic. It descended into the usual Nazi, Jack Boot, Hitler, etc.....
 
Looks like the law is very carefully worded like most laws. Section 706.(a) tells us who the law applies to. This only applies to persons who are working for the federal government. This law seems to have no application to state government. Which seems to mean if the state government authorizes its police to confiscate guns. This law has no application. Now granted I did not read the entire over 100 page document there could be something that I missed but the wording in the firearms section seems only to apply to federal agencies like FEMA, ATF, and the FBI.

Additionally the law in its current form was adopted in 2007. Hurricane Katrina happened in 2005.

No disrespect intended to the OP, Mods, or any of the posters on this thread.
 
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