Any kind of defensive activity is militia, as that term originally meant,
including neighborhood watch. In Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas many of the
MP people will be armed, and a CCW permit is accepted by the organizers in
lieu of a background check. We will normally not make citizen's arrests for
ordinary intrusions, especially onto public property, but are prepared to do
so if we see a qualifying crime being committed, or for trespassing at the
request of the propertyowner.
Both the Maras (Mara Salvatrucha 13) and the Zetas (former Mexican special
forces, now working for the Gulf Cartel), have issued threats to kill any
law enforcement personnel, including MP, who indicate a willingness to
interfere with their criminal activities, and sheriffs from the Texas border
countries report that they are being followed, 24/7, by well-dressed but
thuggish looking guys, who are also tracking families and friends of law
enforcement personnel. The invaders are making "plata o plomo" threats to
ranchers all along the border and along corridors from the border to
transshipment hubs near major metro areas. In effect, they are asserting
dominion over U.S. territory, and beginning to organize and operate like
occupation governments.
This is way, way beyond intrusion of mere harmless jobseekers.
Philip F. Lee wrote:
I doubt the militia is empowered to call itself into service.
No special power is required to call up militia. Special authority is
required to impose penalties for failing to respond to a call-up. The
fraction of the population designated as militia by U.S. and state statutes
are a subset of militia that might be called the mandatory militia, those
who may be penalized for failing to respond to a call-up. That does not mean
that other persons may not also respond to a call-up, or that they may be
excluded from participating if the situation requires it.
It is the threat that provides authority for operations. As for
preparations, such as organizing, training, and equipping, that is reserved
as a right of the people, which they have a duty to exercise if officials
are derelict in providing appropriate leadership, which is the present
situation.
Remember, we are speaking of two kinds of "militia". One militia is the
citizens who may do things such as make citizen arrests when they observe
crimes. They are the unorganized militia -- the people.
Under the original intent of the Founders, there weren't supposed to be any
"unorganized" militia for men of combat age, and perhaps not even for women
and children, if threats justify preparation.
USSC in PRESSER v. STATE OF ILLINOIS, 116 U.S. 252 (1886) made pretty
clear that no band of people may organize and arm itself and call itself
a militia even for such innocent efforts as marching in a parade. And,
even the volunteer militia recognized by a state may regulate what that
militia may do (i.e., "without the license of the governor thereof").
That is a mischaracterization of the decision in Presser, which merely held
that militia were not exempt from getting a parade permit. The same
arguments would apply to a regular militia organization if all it wanted to
do was parade. Of course, if some threat required an operation, no permit
would be required. The permit was to allow for police to block streets,
schedule extra cleanup crews, manage traffic, etc.
Of course citizens have power to act together as a group to defend
themselves, but they could be in trouble if they act for a prolonged
period (past some emergency) without the license of the governor of the
state or in support of some government official designated in charge of
their discipline.
Nonsense. People have a natural right to exercise rights in combination that
they have a right to exercise separately. The state may direct militia to do
certain things, while "on duty", but have no authority over what they may
choose to do "off duty", as long as they are otherwise operating to enforce
law and not break law, by which I mean constitutional law, not some usurpation.
I suspect that all the "militia" groups really don't have any organized
armed drills unless the group is run by the state for legal reasons.
Yes we do. Not as regularly or as intensely as we should, especially in the
heat of a Texas summer, but a substantial proportion of active militia
volunteers are former special forces and law enforcement personnel who are
already trained, so the main need is to learn to operate as units. The
self-regulated militia of the United States is more combat-ready than the
armies of some countries, and could grow to hundreds of thousands or
millions if the situation required it.
For more on this topic see http://www.constitution.org/cs_defen.htm
--Jon
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