Alphecca: Calling General Gage...

July 14, 2006

Calling General Gage...

It's way too early to shout victory for personal gun rights but the U.S. Senate has taken a small step in the right direction:

The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to prohibit the confiscation of legally owned guns during an emergency like last year's Hurricane Katrina, marking another victory for the gun lobby.

By a vote of 84-16, the Senate embraced an amendment by Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican. He attached his measure to a domestic security spending bill for the fiscal year starting October 1 that the Senate is expected to pass soon.

Now, whether the House will allow the amendment to stand when the bill is reconciled between both houses remains to be seen though the article notes that in general the House favors gun rights.

Needless to say, the usual suspects are outraged -- Outraged I tell you. Apparently, any clause that would reinforce 2nd Amendment rights has Senator Ted "Lifeguard" Kennedy and others in a lather:

Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, called the amendment "pay-back time by the National Rifle Association," a powerful lobbying group that opposes gun controls.

Sen. Richard Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, added, "You send the National Guardsmen in ... and then snipers start shooting at them and the police make it known this is going to be a gun-free zone. We don't want any National Guardsmen killed because of this national emergency, this disaster. Is that an unreasonable thing?"

Vitter countered that the "declaration or state of emergency in and of itself does not give anyone the right to confiscate guns" and local law enforcement officials should not "trump" the Constitution.

You get the feeling, listening to Kennedy and Durbin, that they recall with fondness the Lobsterbacks sent by General Sir Thomas Gage to disarm patriots at Lexington and Concord, and the further disarmament of Boston in the run-up to the Revolutionary War.

Many states have already passed their own legislation prohibiting the confiscation of legally owned firearms by law-abiding citizens during emergencies but it would be nice to have that affirmed at the national level.

Update 7/15: Received this email:

Mr. Soyer,

I'm the online communications coordinator for Senator Frist's political action committee, VOLPAC. I read your post on the Vitter amendment to the Homeland Security appropriations bill and thought you might be interested to see Senator Frist's take on Katrina and gun confiscation:

Link here

You're right, of course, that the Senate's bill must be reconciled with the House's version but keeping the Vitter language in the final legislation is a priority for the Majority Leader, so there's reason for optimism.

Stephen B. Smith
VOLPAC
101 Constitution Ave. NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20001

But as a commenter has pointed out, and the NRA has confirmed:

...The Vitter Amendment prohibits the use of federal funds to seize firearms or restrict firearms possession, except in the circumstances allowed by current federal or state law.

So... This amendment is no big deal. A state can't use federal funds for gun grabs. I guess that it is still up to each state to pass their own protections for us law-abiding gun owners.

Posted by Jeff Soyer at July 14, 2006 07:28 AM

Comments

"You get the feeling, listening to Kennedy and Durbin, that they recall with fondness the Lobsterbacks sent by General Sir Thomas Gage to disarm patriots at Lexington and Concord, and the further disarmament of Boston in the run-up to the Revolutionary War."

Kennedy and Durbin obviously would have been Tories. Hell of an attitude for someone from Massachussets. The old Boston patriots would be disgusted if they could see their state now.

Posted by: BobG at July 14, 2006 10:13 AM

I'm pretty sure the new law would not prohibit National Guardsmen from arresting "snipers" who are shooting at them and taking away their guns. It protects the LAW ABIDING GUN OWNERS, not the looters. Sheesh.

Posted by: Reason at July 14, 2006 11:21 AM

But wasn't General Gage only trying to disarm the "lunatic fringe of the US right"?

;)

Posted by: Eric Scheie at July 14, 2006 11:44 AM

I would remind Mr. Reason that these National Guardsmen are almost all combat veterans. I doubt seriously any "snipers" would survive long enough to be arrested. Once again Comrade Kennedy proves his hatred of the United States Constitution and all of us who defend it.

Posted by: Texas Jack at July 14, 2006 01:33 PM

"Vote" for your favorite of these 16 traitors here.

Posted by: Bruce at July 14, 2006 03:03 PM

I see this is reported as a victory for the gun lobby rather than, you know, civil rights. Funny how pro-choicers are never referred to as the abortion lobby.

Posted by: the wolf at July 14, 2006 05:17 PM

Say Uncle has the real story:
The bill only forbids the use of federal funds to enable the confiscation of guns. As long as that part is done on the local dime, it's still OK.
A lot of Dems, probably those up for re-election, will now claim to be our friends after voting for this bit of flummery.
Gotta watch those guys all the time.

Posted by: Billll at July 14, 2006 09:45 PM

Just as an suggestion; I think that if all pro-gunners would standardize on one nickname for the lard-ass, Mass-hole Senator. it might catch on with the public. May I suggest "Tidewater" Ted. It has a certain ring to it.

Posted by: treefroggy at July 14, 2006 10:27 PM

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July 14, 2006

Calling General Gage...

By Golly, you're reading an archived post. Click Here to head to the main page and read current stuff...

Check it out:

My group sci-fi blog novel:

Colony: Alchibah