·11250 Waples Mill Road · Fairfax, Virginia 22030 ·800-392-8683
Posted on 07/17/2006 12:18:14 PM PDT by neverdem
Stopping Gun Confiscation
The Second Amendment unquestionably protects the right of individual Americans to own firearms. Thankfully, most gun-owners are never forced to defend themselves, their families, their homes. But during an emergency or disaster, when police protection breaks down like it did in the chaos in New Orleans that followed Hurricane Katrina, lawfully owned firearms may be the only effective means of protection.
In the days following Katrina, when police and other first responders where overwhelmed and overstretched ... when the failure of telephone and other communication systems prevented so many from calling for help ... the police began seizing legal firearms from law-abiding citizens. This gun confiscation defied common sense as well as the rights protected by the Second Amendment ... and it left many ordinary Americans defenseless at the worst possible time.
That's why I'm proud to say that the Homeland Security legislation passed by the Senate last night includes a much-needed amendment offered by my colleague, Louisiana Senator David Vitter. This amendment specifically prohibits the temporary or permanent seizure of lawfully owned firearms just because a state of emergency has been declared. The amendment overwhelming passed the Senate by a vote of 86 to 14 ... and I don't have to tell you that all 14 of its opponents were Democrats.
I will support keeping Senator Vitter's proposal in the final bill that is sent to the President. We cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of Katrina ... and prohibiting gun confiscation from lawful citizens -- especially during periods of emergency and disaster -- is an important step in the right direction.
Senator Bill Frist, M.D.
Majority Leader, U.S. Senate
Read About It:
POSTED: 7/14/2006Note: Many news sites archive stories after a short period of time. If the link above is expired please contact the site for information about accessing this story.
Is Frist anti-second amendment? If he is, it is news to me.
Sweet
Good. I'm getting my money's worth on my NRA membership.
Would've read better if it said 'state of emergency' -- or a regional or national declaration of martial law.'
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NEWS RELEASEPASSAGE OF VITTER AMENDMENT SHOWS PUBLIC SHIFT ON GUN RIGHTS AFTER KATRINABELLEVUE, WA – The Senate’s overwhelming 84-16 vote this week to prohibit gun confiscations from private citizens in emergencies shows there has been a remarkable shift in the public’s attitude about gun rights after the Hurricane Katrina debacle, the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) said today.“For many in the Senate, like Republicans Mike DeWine of Ohio and Lincoln Chaffee of Rhode Island, and Democrats Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell of Washington,” observed SAF Founder Alan Gottlieb, “it was the first time they’ve voted to support the individual rights of law-abiding gun owners. They saw the looting and lawlessness, and watched the outrage of post-Katrina gun confiscations, and so did their constituents. “Incredibly,” he continued, “sixteen extremist anti-gun Democrats, led by Hillary Clinton, demonstrated by their vote that they think it’s just swell for the government to seize private property from law-abiding citizens, often times at gunpoint and always without warrant or due process of law. This time, it’s guns but what about next time? If it is okay with these senators for police to take legally-owned firearms without probable cause, what would they advocate next for confiscation?” SAF successfully sued the City of New Orleans and St. Tammany Parish last September to force a halt to those illegal gun seizures. The National Rifle Association joined in that lawsuit. “For people of such divergent political views as Joe Biden, Robert Byrd, Blanche Lincoln, Joe Lieberman, Patrick Leahy, Chuck Hagel, Orrin Hatch, Wayne Allard, Max Baucus and 75 of their colleagues, this vote was a no-brainer,” Gottlieb observed. “What a pity that Sen. Clinton’s group remains so myopic about firearm civil rights that they vote to essentially support the warrantless seizure of private property. “We hope the House concurs with this vote,” Gottlieb concluded, “so that never again, on American soil, will we witness a police state mentality that would sooner disarm people and leave them defenseless when they should be offered assistance and medical aid if necessary. Being secure from warrantless search and seizure is guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, even if some people in New Orleans, and a handful on Capitol Hill, seem willing to ignore that.”
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Great. Now if only Canada could pass something like that.
Not that I can recall, but writing on NRA - ILA letterhead is noteworthy for a pubbie that obviously has his eyes on 2008.
Maybe he's trying to make amends for doing little on the growth of government spending and promoting the embryonic stem cell research bill. I don't know. But this is almost guaranteed to get special mention from the gun grabbers.
Good news ping!
May this be a vote to remember.
I got the same email this morning but it was from Frist's VOLPAC. And the same thing (topic) was in a NRA-ILA alert I received last Friday.
Frist has no chance, IMHO. The growth of government spending (as well as the bueracracy) under his tenure disqualifies him, in my view, regardless of my support for his stem cell/gun law positions.
That said, if he somehow winds up as the nominee, I'd vote for him over any of the Dems.
" to essentially support the warrantless seizure of private property"
Like in the Kelo case?
Time to run Gottlieb for President. If he can do for real property what he has done for guns, we need him in the White House.
OH NOOOO! Now they will be free to confiscate guns anytime an emergency is NOT declared! That's how the courts will interpret it! BET on it. DARN...they outsmarted us again.
Okay, so what was the final vote?
Frist has 86-14, and your post has 84-16?
A resounding kick in the crotch for the gun conTROLLS, whatever the case.
I'm sure some nasty like troll from the Brady Bunch or another RDDB group is having exactly this thought right about now.
He already signed a Florida state law prohibiting firearm confiscation during emergencies and he just held a press conference crediting armed citizens with the drop in violent crime here.
I'm liking this guy a lot.
Bttt!
IIRC, he was in support of the AWB and the mag ban and the Brady Bill. I think he's a stealth RINO on the 2nd Amendment. He's not stupid...but remember where a vast majority of the nations doctors (he's an M.D.) stand on guns....very much against. It's only a slender sliver of Docs that are pro-gun. Some are neutral but lean against. But he's seen the damage that the NRA and other gun groups have done to Presidential contenders, so he sees this as a chance to shore up relations with the gun folks. I don't trust him.
This bill isn't the sweetheart deal you might think, either. It just maintains that federal funds wouldn't be used to confiscate firearms. Also if gun grabs are already a part of state law, it's okay by the feds. So the Ray Nagins of the country have to stash away some part of the parking ticket revenue for house to house searches and SWAT team O/T....hey it's doable.
A bill without penalties is just posturing. Add a $250,000 fine and/or 10 sentence.
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