What About Forming Unorganized Militias?

[Trent]

Thank you Trent for pointing out the Declaration of Independence and the parts that apply to our present condition. An EXCELLENT explanation of the circumstances that apply, succinct, and I heartily endorse both yours and our Founders' philosophy.

HSO presented a great viewpoint on the matter.

All I did was put it in an historical context.

While I firmly support the second amendment, along with all of our bill of rights, I will not be among the first to draw blood over it. 20 years ago? I was marching to a different beat.

But I'd like to think that as the years have progressed I've grown a bit wiser, a bit more calculating, a bit more enlightened, and a bit more rational in my way of thought.

I'm firm in my convictions - of this there is no doubt. But as long as the Government isn't executing my fellow countrymen over their political beliefs, perpetrating mass arrests to deprive them of what is, by right, theirs, and giving us zero political, peaceful, recourse, I will remain on the sidelines.

Should the situation ever change, I think our violent and bloody history speaks well enough for itself.

One thing both sides of the gun control debate and every foreign nation we've ever stood against will agree on.... is that Americans are damn good at killing people.

So, let's avoid that as long as humanly possible.

Let's endure, and struggle against oppression of any form with all of our voices.

But don't raise arms until you are in defense of the last remaining vestiges of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. As long as there is a thread of hope, cling to it.

And when it's finally cut... fight for it with everything you have at your disposal.

 

[USAF_Vet]

Even if the only thing you have at your disposal is a plastic butter knife?

At what point do we say enough is enough? At what point are mere words, that continue to fall on deaf ears, not enough?

Who takes the first shot? The first shot of our revolution was fired by the British. Do we wait for our oppressors to take the first shot again? Or should it be like Fort Sumter, where the so-called 'rebels' took action against their oppressive government?

At some point, words will fail, but there are still some who will continue to preach and shout long after the time for action has passed. They will still call for tolerance when oppression has become intolerable.

So I ask again: when is enough, enough?

 

[Trent]

So I ask again: when is enough, enough?

That's a question we all must answer for ourselves.

 

[Solo]

Even if the only thing you have at your disposal is a plastic butter knife?

Please keep in mind that being unarmed did not stop a number of revolutions in the 20th century.

 

[Trent]

Please keep in mind that being unarmed did not stop a number of revolutions in the 20th century.

Yup. As long as whoever is "enforcing" has guns, and you have a suitable instrument (crossbow, bow, baseball bat, hunting knife), you too can have a gun. Remember inside 21 feet a knife is more deadly, statistically.

All hope is never lost.

Heck, the Polish created their own home brew submachinegun for such a purpose, right under the nose of the Nazi occupiers. Wasn't a great weapon, but it served the purpose of obtaining better arms.

 

[Solo]

Indeed.

Also, you know, civil disobedience in India and the Arab Spring, where some of the affected countries have extremely low firearms ownership compared to the US, at least according to official figures.

 

[9thchild]

I agree with most all that has been said.

However I do believe that most people have no earthly idea how far down the rabbit hole we have already gone. If even a small fraction of this country truly understood economics and our monetary system there would be full revolution overnight.

Sadly however the majority of U.S. citizens have no understanding of such topics.

 

[Texan Scott]

Don't form a militia. Gun nuts, domestic terrorists, and wacko cult groups form militias. What you need is a local area "Sportsman's Shooting Club". Charter like a Moose Lodge. Pick a local range day once a month. Have a phone roster and instant message system,
(for community service bulletins) and stay quiet, calm, and off the internet. Keep the tinfoil hats out of plain view.

 

[TexasBill]

It should also be noted that some states have laws against forming "armed bodies of men." While I believe these are leftovers from the post-Civil War days, they are still on the books.

 

[SharpsDressedMan]

There are just a few more considerations that make the surrendering of arms more of a critical element right now, or in the near future. The government now far exceeds the capability of any individual or group of people, to control the public, by means of surveillance, and has such sophisticated weapons that any small arms attack would be put down immediately if they turned those weapons on an "unruly" citizenry. The ONLY way we could stand against the government, if necessary, wouild be by the sheer NUMBERS of citizens with the best weapons at hand they could get, and many would be slaughtered, while the other side enjoyed unlimited funds, night vision, infrared detection, all kinds of personal and vehicle armor, and unlimited surveillance. It makes me a little nauseous to think what it would look like stateside if the weapons they used in Iraq or Afghanistan were used here, and it only gets worse as technology advances. We are not asking for THOSE weapons, yet we might have to fight against them. Hanging on to our guns is a pittance effort against the technology of today, and tomorrow. Perhaps the Army and National Guard would stand down, and side with the people (as the tank drivers did in Moscow a few years back, basically signally an end to the Cold War and communism in Russia), but I don't count on it.

 

[AlexanderA]

If there was a tyrannical usurpation, large portions of the armed forces would defect and join the opposition. Remember that in today's all-volunteer forces, many of the troops come from the same social background as the gun rights supporters (rural, small-town, Southern, etc.). The only thing the opposition would have to do is set up places for people to defect to. In the early months of 1861, when the play "Richard III" was playing in Washington, there was always loud cheering at the line, "he has fled to Richmond." (In the play, "Richmond" was Henry Tudor, the Earl of Richmond, later King Henry VII. This made for a convenient play on words in 1861 Washington. U.S. Army officers were fleeing to Richmond by the score -- including Robert E. Lee.)

 

[mortablunt]

There are a lot of militias. The most widespread problems with the ones I've seen is this:

A) They're full of old, angry, white dudes who would gladly reinstate Jim Crow and think that they have no sort of obligation to help either society or anybody else.

B) Replace "coloured" with "Liberal" in the parlance of the above.

C) All they do is gather, drink beer, shoot, and play at being soldier in between football games.

D) Gecko45 and friends get together.

Now, there are good militias, such as the one 19-3Ben told us about, and I completely support the right for such groups to form and operate. The problem is so many are complete crap. Thank God for the local Russian community militia.