U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Kenneth Mapp signed an executive order this week telling the U.S. National Guard to seize weapons and other private property as needed, according to documents acquired by The Daily Caller web site.
The Daily Caller obtained a copy of the governor’s order that directs Deborah Howell, the U.S. Virgin Islands adjutant general of the U.S. National Guard, to seize weapons, ammunition, and other property that may be needed for the National Guard’s emergency mission during recovery from Hurricane Irma.
Irma killed four people in the U.S. Virgin Islands and caused widespread damage to parts of the islands’ infrastructure, including to a major hospital.
“The Adjutant General is authorized and directed to seize arms, ammunition, explosives, incendiary material and any other property that may be required by the military forces for the performance of this emergency mission, in accordance with the Rules of Force promulgated by the Virgin Islands National Guard and approved by the Virgin Islands Department of Justice,” the order reads.
Like Gov. Bill Walker of Alaska, Mapp is a Republican who ran as an “independent,” without a political party in 2014, and assumed office a month after Walker was sworn in as Alaska’s governor. Walker and Mapp are the only two unaffiliated governors.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Mapp’s family moved to Saint Croix in the Virgin Islands in 1961.
In the interview with Tucker Carlson on Fox News, Mapp attempted to back away from the order and explained that seizing weapons meant the National Guard could buy the weapons from stores.
Mapp told Carlson he didn’t mean the Adjutant General to “go into people’s homes” but to get what it needs “as the government acquires property on the open market without having to “go through the procurement processes of the government.”
During Hurricane Katrina preparations in 2005, New Orleans Police Chief Eddie Compass Chief of Police and Mayor Ray Nagin signed a similar order and police seized guns, rifles and other weapons in door-to-door searches.
“Only law enforcement are allowed to have weapons,” the Chief Compass ordered.
That blanket weapons ban led to Congress passing the Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act (Vittner Amendment) in 2006, to prohibit authorities from confiscating weapons during emergencies.
