What Exactly Is… The Militia?

Certainly the militia is the people, for what else could it possibly be?

Consider the obvious: Does combining the right of free speech with the right to assemble diminish either? Of course not.  And the same is true when you combine the right to assemble with the right to be armed.

An easy way to understand what the militia actually is might be to learn how to properly use of the word itself.  A citizen is not in the militia, he or she is simply… militia. You don’t say, “I am in the people,” you simply say, “I am a person.” If you muster with friends on a sunny afternoon and you have a rifle in your hand you are militia… whether you like it or not. 

The militia is not some vast conspiratorial conglomeration of paramilitary rednecks, that’s something completely different. All true militia is local, historically derived from a town or a village. You don’t join the militia, you start or join a local militia unit. Doing this is simply exercising two basic God-given rights, i.e. the right to assemble, and the right to bear arms.

When a governor activates the militia he is effectively doing the same thing a local sheriff does when he forms a posse. And just like a posse no one from a local militia unit is required to turn out. This is not true for the National Guard, and that is precisely why the Guard is not militia. All militia is volunteer, and while it is assumed that militia units will respond in an emergency, there is no requirement for them to do so.

Ideally state governments would provide training and equipment for groups willing to muster, but most of our leaders see this sort of action as a political liability. While the lack of such leadership does leave a vacuum of sorts, there is usually no law that prevents neighbors, friends, and family from having a monthly picnic with rifles.

At such a gathering a leader might be chosen per Robert’s Rules of Order, etc. This leader however is an informational officer only, and has no legitimate power. Being the member of a militia unit does NOT disable any of your God-given rights, and you are always free to pick up your rifle and go home. This is not true for regular Army, including the National Guard.

I am providing this primer because I keep seeing misinformation on the web. If you are going to form a local militia unit use these basic guidelines and you should be OK.

1. Try to keep it local, and only associate with people you know. Don’t do this to avoid agent provocateurs, do it because that is the best way to be effective.

2. Avoid racists, hotheads, bigots, strangers, etc. Leave your group if they seem to be willing to take anyone, and start another group.

3. Avoid groups that don’t place a premium on safety.

4. Learn how to use your rifle safely.

5. Exercise. If you are serious about being useful should a crisis ever arise, do you think a barstool will be involved?

6. Start a cool Facebook Page. If there is to be a rebirth of militia units around the country, it will not be underground, and it will be a highly sought-after endeavour. Publicize your efforts.

7. Meet regularly, say the Pledge of Allegiance, take an oath to defend the Constitution from all enemies foreign or domestic.

8. Name your group (Culpepper Minutemen has been taken), get patches and a flag.

9. Live free or die. Done.