109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5013
AN ACT 
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 
and Emergency Assistance Act to prohibit the 
confiscation of firearms during certain national 
emergencies.
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5013
AN ACT 
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer-
gency Assistance Act to prohibit the confiscation of fire-
arms during certain national emergencies.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Disaster Recovery Per-
sonal Protection Act of 2006’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Second Amendment to the Constitution 
states that a ‘‘well regulated militia, being necessary 
to the security of a free State, the right of the peo-
ple to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed’’, 
and Congress has repeatedly recognized this lan-
guage 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 Lou-
isiana. 
(3) In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the safe-
ty of these citizens, and of their homes and property, 
was threatened by instances of criminal activity. 
(4) Many of these citizens lawfully kept fire-
arms 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 gun-
point by nonconsensual entries into private homes, 
by traffic checkpoints, by stoppage of boats, and 
otherwise by force. 
(7) The citizens from whom firearms were con-
fiscated were either in their own homes or attempt-
ing 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 sei-
zures and deprived these citizens of liberty and prop-
erty without due process of law in violation of funda-
mental rights under the Constitution. 
(9) Many citizens who took temporary refuge in 
emergency housing were prohibited from storing fire-
arms on the premises, and were thus treated as sec-
ond-class citizens who had forfeited their constitu-
tional right to keep and bear arms. 
(10) At least one highly-qualified search and 
rescue team was prevented from joining in relief ef-
forts because the team included individuals with fire-
arms, 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 per-
sonal 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) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 706. FIREARMS POLICIES. 
‘‘(a) PROHIBITION
ON CONFISCATION
OF FIRE-
ARMS.—No officer or employee of the United States (in-
cluding any member of the uniformed services), or person 
operating pursuant to or under color of Federal law, or 
receiving Federal funds, or under 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 au-
thorize seizure of, any firearm the possession of 
which is not prohibited under Federal, State, or 
local law, other than for forfeiture in compliance 
with Federal law or as evidence in a criminal inves-
tigation; 
‘‘(2) require registration of any firearm for 
which registration is not required by Federal, State, 
or local law; 
‘‘(3) prohibit possession of any firearm, or pro-
mulgate any rule, regulation, or order prohibiting 
possession of any firearm, in any place or by any 
person where such possession is not otherwise pro-
hibited by Federal, State, or local law; or 
‘‘(4) prohibit the carrying of firearms by any 
person otherwise authorized to carry firearms under 
Federal, State, or local law, solely because such per-
son is operating under the direction, control, or su-
pervision of a Federal agency in support of relief 
from the major disaster or emergency. 
‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to prohibit any person from requiring the tem-
porary surrender of a firearm as a condition for entry into 
any mode of transportation used for rescue or evacuation 
during a major disaster or emergency. 
‘‘(c) 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 pro-
ceeding for redress against any person who subjects 
such individual, or causes such individual to be sub-
jected, to the deprivation of any of the rights, privi-
leges, or immunities secured by this section. 
‘‘(2) REMEDIES.—In addition to any existing 
remedy in law or equity, under any law, an indi-
vidual aggrieved by the seizure or confiscation of a 
firearm in violation of this section may bring an ac-
tion for 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 pro-
ceeding 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.’’.
Passed the House of Representatives July 25, 2006. 
Attest:
Clerk.