Well Regulated Militia

Barry, My Liege :

There is some discussion about the Second Amendment and the right of Americans to keep and bear arms.

Here is the text of that Amendment as ratified by the States and authenticated by Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State :

'A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.'

[Wikipedia]

Since it is about 220 years after the Constitution was ratified, perhaps it is a good time to re-imagine the idea of a well regulated militia. While this author claims no military training, he is an experienced imaginer.

Soldiers in our War of Independence used a tactic we see today being employed by Al-Qaeda, namely, a tactic of guerilla warfare where the native forces defending against a hostile invader do not mass armies and engage in conventional ground warfare with heavy weapons. The preference is to use stealth and small groups to disrupt the invading force so that the force is unable to move freely.

If the objective of a militia is to disrupt an invading force, then such a militia could be composed of a widely deployed force consisting of two soldier units with long range and intermediate range sniper capabilities including imaging equipment.

With today's .50 caliber sniper rifles and spotters with good imaging capability, snipers can kill targets from a mile away.

With a force of 25 or 50 such two soldier units, it could be possible to interfere significantly with a hostile force in a large urban or rural area.

Such an objective could be part of a larger strategy by delaying the hostile force in its objective of securing an area and thereby giving native fighters time to organize and further disrupt the invader.

If that were the strategy of a militia organized along county or city boundary lines, then it might make sense for a militia commander to recruit, train and deploy to their homes a number of two soldier sniper units with their requisite long range rifles, intermediate range rifles and long distance imaging equipment.

In that case it would make sense for those militia to have access to their weapons at all times.

But, other than shotguns and deer rifles, that is the only sensible condition under which when a citizen can keep and bear arms.

Today's claims that assault weapons and 50 or 100 round magazines are protected by the United States Constitution are simply wrong.

Those who make that claim are self-serving apologists for individuals and corporations who profit from and encourage the shooting deaths of citizens.

Your faithful servant,