The Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act of 2006 was a bill introduced in the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

intended to prohibit the confiscation of legally possessed

firearm A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

s during a disaster. Its provisions became law in the form of the Vitter Amendment to the

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...

Appropriations Act of 2007.

Background

In the aftermath of

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Chief of Police

Eddie Compass Edwin P. Compass, III is a former Chief of Police of the New Orleans Police Department. He resigned as Chief of Police on September 27, 2005. Compass, who earlier said he was organizing a tribunal to handle the cases of 249 officers who left thei ...

ordered police and

National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...

units to confiscate firearms from civilians who remained in the area. The

National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...

and Second Amendment Foundation filed a

lawsuit A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today ...

against the city of New Orleans to place an emergency

injunction An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable rem ...

forbidding such seizures from continuing. A temporary restraining order was granted September 23, 2005. 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 Piyush "Bobby" Jindal (born June 10, 1971) is an American politician who served as the 55th governor of Louisiana from 2008 to 2016. A member of the Republican Party, Jindal previously served as a U.S. representative from Louisiana from 2005 t ...

in the

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and on April 7, 2006 by Republican Senator David Vitter in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. On August 4, 2006, it was referred to

committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

. 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 firearms during an emergency or major disaster if the possession of such firearms is not prohibited under Federal or State law. 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".

Passage

On July 13, 2006, the Vitter Amendment passed the United States Senate 84 to 16. It was retained by the conference committee.

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

signed the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act on September 30, 2006 and it became Public Law 109-295.

References

{{reflist

External links

Text of the bill

S. 2599/H.R. 5013: Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act of 2006
United States federal firearms legislation Acts of the 109th United States Congress Effects of Hurricane Katrina Riders to United States federal appropriations legislation