JEFFERSON CITY (AP) - Some gun advocates are concerned a flood, earthquake or other emergency could wash away gun-owner’s rights.

Bills that already have cleared House and Senate committees would bar state and local officials from restricting the lawful possession of a gun.

State and federal law enforcement officers 18 months ago in New Orleans confiscated hundreds of guns after the levies there failed and the city began to flood. Several pro-gun groups, including the National Rifle Association, sued, and the city last spring began allowing those whose guns were taken to reclaim them.

Boone County firearms instructor Tim Oliver said yesterday that Missouri could face an even worse disaster than New Orleans if there were a major earthquake on the New Madrid fault that runs through southeastern Missouri and four other states.

Since the confiscation after Hurricane Katrina, several gun-rights groups have launched nationwide campaigns to prevent the seizure of guns during emergencies. And the NRA at its most recent national convention urged all police chiefs and mayors to pledge not to take firearms away.

In Missouri, bills in the House and Senate have each been approved by separate committee. The House measure must still clear the House Rules Committee, and the Senate measure already was added to the consent calendar of noncontroversial bills that are not expected to prompt significant debate.

Oliver, who operates the Web site www.LearnToCarry.com, said the biggest effect of the measures would be to allow police officers to disobey an order to confiscate guns during an emergency.

"There wasn’t a law like this in Louisiana at the time, and the police officers and federal folks went around doing it, thinking - mistakenly - that it was a lawful order," Oliver said. "Passing this will tell everybody in Missouri and all law enforcement that this can’t be done, and if it is, they can refuse to follow the unlawful order."

But Pike County Sheriff Jim Wells said he can’t think of circumstances where police in Missouri start taking people’s guns.

"I don’t think if we have a tornado or a hurricane people are going to start confiscating firearms, because we’d have a lot more important things to worry about," he said.

Wells, a vice president of the state’s sheriff’s association, said Missouri has had natural disasters before - such as the 1993 flood - but to his knowledge no one has had a gun confiscated.

Sponsoring Rep. David Pearce said his concern is that the governor and city mayors have more power during an emergency, which could include taking guns.

"If you’re ever going to want protection, it’s during a time of emergency," said Pearce, R-Warrensburg.

Rep. Beth Low, the lone critic of the bill when it was discussed by the House committee, said some gun restrictions should be permitted.

"This just kind of creates a Wild West mentality," Low, D-Kansas City, said.

There would be no explicit penalty for taking firearms during an emergency, but supporters say that the threat of litigation would be enough to keep police and government officials in line.

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