Congressmen Question Mapp’s Continued State Of Emergency Declaration And The Implications On Gun Rights

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop, R-Utah, and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va, wrote a letter to Governor Kenneth Mapp seeking clarification on the continued state of emergency declaration via means of executive order that Mr. Mapp has issued six times since Hurricanes Irma and Maria struck the territory in 2017, and that the Congressmen believe violates the Second Amendment of Americans, which is the right to bear arms.

Speaking on Tucker Carlson’s show on Thursday night, Mr. Bishop expressed bewilderment by the language found in the executive order relative to the seizure of firearms. And he appeared to not understand the governor’s reasoning behind the continued state of emergency declarations.

“Ironically enough after Katrina hit in New Orleans, the mayor tried to do that same kind of executive order, eventually the courts ruled that that was blatantly unconstitutional,” Mr. Bishop said. “So this is the question and the governor has said different things about it. He did issue the order that would have allowed them to confiscate weapons and ammunition and it says also other property and the like — I don’t know how you define that one. But he has also said he never intended to do it; that this is merely a way of getting his National Guard to get ammunition and guns without using the normal procurement system, I don’t know what that means.”

The letter sent to the governor sets a deadline of August 1, 2018 for Mr. Mapp to furnish the following information:

• Documents sufficient to identify any policies, procedures, memoranda, or guidance on how the executive order is to be implemented.
• Documents sufficient to identify any policies procedures, memoranda, or guidance detailing circumstances that may warrant the seizure of arms, ammunition, explosives, incendiary material, or any other property required by the National Guard.
• Documents sufficient to identify any seizure or acquisition of arms, ammunition, explosives, incendiary material, or any other property by the National Guard of the Virgin Islands under th authority of the executive order.

Governor Kenneth Mapp has addressed this matter in the past, and has explained that the executive order in no way is intended to confiscate the firearms of those with rights to bare them in the territory. But it’s clear the governor will have some more explaining to do.

See the letter in its entirety below.