LEAA Drives Progress on H.R. 218
Senate advances Community Protection Act
By Ted Deeds, LEAA’s Chief Operating Officer, Summer 2002

A police officer’s training and skills don’t go in the closet with the uniform at the end of every shift, but in some states his sidearm must. With the passage of two bills now in the House and the Senate, the Community Protection Act would allow off-duty and qualified retired law enforcement officers to carry their concealed firearms nationwide --- but only if enough voices are heard.

Update
On July 23, Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham testified before the Senate’s Judiciary Committee, explaining that he has introduced H.R. 218 in every Congress since 1992 for three simple reasons: “It will make our communities safer, it will provide better protection for our law enforcement personnel, and it will cost the taxpayer nothing.”

Senate Judiciary Committee Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced S. 2480, the companion bill to H.R. 218, because “he believes arming cops would make communities safer.” Rep. Cunningham emphasized that point in testimony.

“Any community would relish the thought of being able to put more officers on the street,” Cunningham went on. “When all is said and done, passage of this bill will reduce crime, reduce the threat to off duty officers and their families, and act as a deterrent to terrorist elements ­ all at no cost.

“This is a win for everyone, and in that spirit I challenge you to a race. Let’s see who can get this measure passed first ­ this body, or me and my distinguished colleagues in the other body. Fight’s on.”

Testimony
Steve Young, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, told the committee that the bill is needed because if "neither criminals nor terrorists give up their weapons when they cross jurisdictional boundaries, why should police officers?"

We agree. If state government authorities trust police officers to carry firearms then that confidence should be recognized across state boundaries for law enforcement officers. Moreover, citizens who hold state-recognized right-to-carry permits should likewise receive cross-jurisdictional consent because a citizen's right to defense does not end at the state line.

Unfortunately, jurisdictional issues trouble Lonnie Westphal, vice president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and chief of the Colorado State Patrol. Westphal told the committee: "It is important to remember that a police officer's authority to enforce the law is limited to the jurisdiction in which they serve. An officer, upon leaving his jurisdiction, has no arrest powers or other authority to enforce the law. That is the responsibility of local law enforcement agencies."

We couldn’t disagree more.
Every citizen has a civic duty and responsibility to ensure the public good. Ordinary citizens have well-established powers to make a citizen’s arrest. Besides, LEAA has long been on record that H.R. 218 does not expand an officer’s arrest authority nor does it create a national police force.

Frankly, Westphal’s opposition testimony on behalf of IACP is hypocritical. Westphal and IACP are passionate rivals of H.R. 218 and S. 2480 and oppose legislative measures allowing rank-and-file law enforcement officers from carrying their guns across state lines. But Westphal has no problem taking his own gun across state lines as he did several months ago when he traveled from Colorado to California.

Westphal’s attitude is typical of the elitist, police brass that are so far removed from real street duty that they have lost touch with the needs of rank-and-file cops. Law enforcement bureaucrats, like Westphal, are more interested in politics than public safety.

At press time, it was unclear when the Senate bill would move out of the Judiciary Committee or when it would make it to the Senate floor for action. But Sen. Leahy told the committee that S. 2480 has Pres. Bush’s backing.

Overwhelming support
LEAA’s Jim Fotis was the driving force behind the measure and now both bills are in their respective Judiciary Committees. The lead sponsor of H.R. 218 is its co-author, Rep. Cunningham, and its fiercest opponent is the powerful chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI).

H.R. 218 is endorsed by more than 100 law enforcement organizations, including the Fraternal Order of Police, the National Troopers Coalition, the National Association of Police Organizations, the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, and many others. It currently has 268 cosponsors in the House and 33 in the Senate.

In the Senate, more than three-quarters of the members of the Judiciary Committee, including its Chairman, have co-sponsored the community safety measure. In the House of Representatives, the majority of the 418 congressmen and congresswomen have signed on as co-sponsors of the measure, including the greater part of the members of the House Judiciary Committee. Unfortunately, the chairman of that committee, Rep. Sensenbrenner (R-WI) continues to oppose the proposal and prevent it from getting a vote. “Chairman Sensenbrenner is circling a wagon of one. His opposition flies in the face of common sense and fairness,” said LEAA’s Jim Fotis.

LEAA Life Member Frank Gerstenkorn, a retired LEO who lives in California, wants to see H.R. 218 become law to help retired officers fend off retaliation by revenge-seeking thugs bent on retaliating against the officer who arrested them. “The enemies you make while throwing people in jail don’t stop being enemies the day you retire.”

LEAA Board Member and law enforcement officer, Joe DeBergalis, Jr., summed up the need for passage of the measure concisely in an editorial which appeared in the July 2002 issue of Police Magazine: “In the battle between the good guys and the bad guys, the good guys should be able to have guns.”

He’s right! All good guys should have that right whether they are law enforcement officers, aviators, secretaries, college professors, cashiers, or any other law-abiding citizen from any walk of life. But nothing will happen unless you act.

Harmony Allen, spokesperson for Cunningham’s Washington, D.C. office, said it’s important for supporters to make their wishes known regarding the Community Protection Act. Send letters of thanks to lawmakers who support it, and urge those who don’t to take another close look at its live-saving potential.

An easy way to contact your senators and Congressmen is by going to www.senate.org and www.congress.org, and following the links that lead to each individual. There you’ll find phone numbers both in Washington D.C. and their home offices, as well as e-mail addresses.

For the latest information about H.R. 218 go to LEAA’s Web site, www.leaa.org, and click on the coverage of the Senate hearing and H.R. 218 Talking Points.