Senate Committee Hears Homeland Security’s Best Kept Secret!
Bill arms nearly one million qualified off duty and retired police officers nationwide
July 23, 2002

Washington ­ The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing today on America’s best kept secret for Homeland Security. S. 2480, the ‘Law Enforcement Officers’ Safety Act of 2002’ would allow qualified off duty and retired law enforcement officers to carry their firearms nationwide.

Introduced in May by Committee Chairman Leahy and Ranking Member Hatch, S. 2480 has 28 Senate cosponsors, including a bi-partisan majority of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The legislation is modeled after H.R. 218, the House legislation authored by Congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-CA) and Law Enforcement Alliance of America Executive Director James J. Fotis ten years ago. H.R. 218 also enjoys bi-partisan support, with a majority of Representatives in Congress cosponsoring the legislation.

The Committee will hear from Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) and Congressman Cunningham (R-CA), as well as leaders from America’s national law enforcement organizations. LEAA life member and Cedar Rapids, Iowa Deputy Chief of Police, David Johnson will be testifying before the Committee about the merits of this life-saving legislation.

Supporters note the many instances of armed off-duty officers intervening to save lives when trouble breaks out. From the 2000 International Chiefs of Police “Officer of the Year,” who stopped three armed robbers in Las Vegas, to the off-duty San Diego police officer who stopped a school shooting, countless stories demonstrate how armed off duty and retired law enforcement officers can add to America’s homeland security.

LEAA Executive Director James J. Fotis, a retired police officer from New York who helped author the original legislation in 1992 said, “Now more than ever, our nation cannot afford to pass on the opportunity to have nearly one million additional trained and armed police officers able to protect themselves, their families and their communities.”

Fotis noted the legislation’s House dilemma, as Republican House Judiciary Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin refuses to give the bill even a simple hearing, “The Senate is offering our nation tremendous leadership, something we can be thankful to Chairman Leahy for ­ how long will the House sit idle as one lone opponent blocks a bill backed by a bi-partisan majority that includes everyone from Bob Barr to Barney Frank?”