Congress Passes NRA-backed “Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act of 2006”

Fairfax, VA- The National Rifle Association (NRA) and law-abiding gun owners scored a significant victory when the United States Congress acted to prohibit the confiscation of legal firearms from law-abiding citizens during states of emergency, barring practices conducted by officials in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. This action was included in the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill that passed both chambers of Congress. This bill now heads to President Bush for his expected signature.

“Following the chaos and civil disorder in New Orleans when the city effectively suspended the Second Amendment, NRA vowed to make sure we never again witnessed this kind of desecration on our rights,” declared Chris W. Cox. “As promised, NRA set out to pass legislation at both the federal and state levels to protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding American citizens.”

H.R. 5013, the “Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act,” was introduced in the House by Congressman Bobby Jindal (LA - 1) passed the House on July 25, 2006 with a broad bi-partisan margin of 322-99.  Senator David Vitter (R-La) introduced the Senate version of the bill, which passed the United States Senate by 84-16, the largest margin of victory for a NRA-backed measure.

“The essence of the ‘Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act’ was so compelling that it received strong bipartisan support in Congress,” continued Cox. “When 911 is non-existent and law enforcement personnel are busy with search and rescue missions and other duties, law abiding Americans want to defend their families and loved ones in times of emergency. Your NRA helped guarantee their freedom to do just that.”

“On behalf of all NRA members nationwide, I want to thank Rep. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) and Sen. Vitter for their leadership in introducing this legislation and seeing these fundamental bills through to passage,” concluded Cox.

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Established in 1871, the National Rifle Association is America’s oldest civil rights and sportsmen's group.  Four million members strong, NRA continues its mission to uphold Second Amendment rights and to advocate enforcement of existing laws against violent offenders to reduce crime.  The Association remains the nation's leader in firearm education and training for law-abiding gun owners, law enforcement and the military.