> In order to arm citizens as militia, the states must be able
> to designate those citizens as militia. I maintain, on good
> evidence, that Congress can prevent the states from
> designating as *state* militia citizens who do not meet
> federal standards. E.g. If Idaho wants to enroll convicted
> violent felons, and California wants to enroll open
> homosexuals, and Florida wants to enroll quadruple amputees,
> Congress can prevent those states from doing so, because
> Congress has the power to create a uniform militia that
> serves the purpose of a unified national defense. That was
> one of the first purposes of the Philadelphia Convention.
I am undereducated on both history and rulings concerning such distinctions,
but the plain language of the Militia Clause seems to allow a dichotomy.
Clause 16. The Congress shall have Power * * * To provide for
organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing
___such Part of them___ as may be employed in the Service of the
United
States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the
Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the
discipline prescribed by Congress.
This tiny passage indicates that those parts of state militias useful to the
purposes of the Union (specifically in Clause 15, " . . . to execute the
Laws of the Union, suppress
Insurrections and repel Invasions.") are what matters. So the power granted
to Congress allow it to define what part of the militia meet Federal
standards, but not limit the composition of the entire militia to said
standard.
> Under federal law, the President has statutory
> authority to withhold funding from the state guard if it does
> not comply with federal standards.
<grin> Can the withholding of funds be prorated to the ratio of homosexuals
and heterosexuals?
-----------------
Guy Smith
Author, Gun Facts
www.GunFacts.info
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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