A MODEST, BUT REAL, CIVIL RIGHTS VICTORY in the Senate:

The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to prohibit the confiscation of legally owned guns during an emergency like last year’s Hurricane Katrina, marking another victory for the gun lobby.

By a vote of 84-16, the Senate embraced an amendment by Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican. He attached his measure to a domestic security spending bill for the fiscal year starting October 1 that the Senate is expected to pass soon.

Although last year’s illegal gun confiscation in New Orleans was eventually overturned in federal court, that kind of relief obviously comes too late for people who need to protect themselves in an emergency. This seems like an appropriate legislative response to me, though as Alphecca notes it still has to pass the House.