While actor Sean Penn made international headlines last week for springing a leak in his "relief boat" in New Orleans, the Oscar-winner was also spotted armed with a shotgun in the Big Easy.

Sean Penn, left, seen carrying a shotgun in New Orleans (New York Post)

A photograph plastered on the cover of the New York Post Saturday shows a pump-action shotgun in Penn's right hand and a flak jacket in his left, with a story inside titled, "Ballistic River."

"It was in the boat, and he picked it up and carried it," Penn spokeswoman Mara Buxbaum told the Post, noting the weapon did not belong to him. "It was in the midst of helping three or four people who were being rescued, whom he brought to the hospital."

The man who snapped the picture, Edward Keating, was surprised to see someone carrying a weapon in the Garden District in broad daylight, and was further stunned when he became aware it was the star of "Mystic River" and "Fast Times at Ridgemont High."

"I was like ... wow,'" he said.

And when Keating asked Penn what he was doing, Penn only said, "I care about the people, and I care about this city, and I want to help."

Today, the public has a variety of reactions to the Post's coverage of "Shotgun Sean":

• I am no fan of Sean Penn, but I am a fan of anyone who gets up off his butt and answers a call for help. (David Seger, Knoxville, Tenn.)

• If this had been any of your noted Republican actors, such as Mel Gibson, James Woods or Clint Eastwood, they would be bashed by every liberal news agency, from the New York Times to CNN. (Joseph O'Keefe, Manhattan)

• Say what you want about Penn's acting abilities and political views, he is a caring American, and that's most important. (James Ring, Ossining, N.Y.)

• Penn, running through what's left of New Orleans and carrying a shotgun, doesn't make me feel more secure. We cops used to say that anyone who just happens to have a photographer nearby to chronicle his or her heroics is probably a better actor than he is a cop. I don't think much of Penn as an actor, but I suspect he's not a heroic individual – just someone who wants to grab a little publicity between his mediocre movies. (Michael Gorman, Whitestone, N.Y.)

• While President Bush safely zoomed above the ruins of New Orleans in the comfort and security of Air Force One, Penn was soaked to the skin, toting a rifle and wading through toxic sludge. He was determined to be in the thick of the action instead of being a mere bystander to the unfolding tragedy. Penn should run for president in 2008. He has earned my vote for having more guts than this nation's political stooges. (Sharon Rutman, Far Rockaway, N.Y.)

Penn has made headlines before with firearms.

During his 1985 wedding ceremony to Madonna, he allegedly fired a gun at paparazzi who were trying to photograph the event from a helicopter.

In 2003, Penn came under fire when it became public he had obtained a permit for concealed weapons due to threats from a disgruntled worker, and that two of the guns were stolen along with his car.

Sean and Robin Wright Penn (courtesy: Hollywood.com)

Meanwhile, Penn's current wife, actress Robin Wright Penn, perhaps best known for her title role as "The Princess Bride," is blasting journalists who ridiculed Sean's trip to New Orleans.

"I think it's f---ing pathetic to be belittling him," Wright Penn told the New York Daily News.

"Do we have to go to the bowels of infantile behavior?" she demanded. "Here people are dying, and if it wasn't Sean Penn going crazy watching CNN and saying, 'I have to do something' – but instead it was 'Joe Smith from Morgan City' – then those people would be thanking him, not attacking him."

If you would like to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, here are some of the best ways to do so.

Related stories:

Brown resigns from FEMA

School-buses showdown: Mayor Nagin vs. Russert

Transcript: Mayor Nagin vs. Tim Russert

Red Cross needs 40,000 volunteers

FEMA director relieved of duties

Report: Louisiana blocked Red Cross

Another homosexual parade after devastation

RVs donated for homeless

Louisiana churches link arms in relief

Contaminated water kills 5 in 'Sewer City'

Boys' lemonade stand raises $1,000

Army tests 'super-levees'

Churches rise to answer South's call

Morticians prep for 40,000 bodies

'Rush on Broadway' closes 'Lion King'

September is 'National Preparedness Month'

Homosexuals celebrate in ravaged New Orleans

Female survivors urged to flash breasts for help

Atheists: No prayer for disaster victims

FEMA chief fired from previous job

Chertoff clueless about hurricane

Paper: Fire every FEMA official

Celine Dion: Let 'em loot

New Orleans, city of dead

Illegals get reprieve from Katrina

New Orleans mayor fears CIA to take him out

Web, military technology aiding in storm recovery

Sobbing Geraldo: Let the people go!

Clinton, Bush slashed spending on levees

Billy Graham on disaster: Evil is mystery

10,000 dead in Louisiana?

Radio host: No doubt 'End Times' here

Bye-bye Big Easy?