"A well-regulated militia being necessary for the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed" - Amendment II, U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights.

For almost one hundered and eighty years the people and politicians, alike, of the United States clearly understood the meaning of this very important amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The Founding Fathers, in their many writings, were very plain in their thinking and their intent is very well documented. The Militia Act of 1792 was one means by which the Founders attempted to make the Second Amendment both practical and meaningful. The right of the people to keep and bear arms was clearly understood, and for the most part, taken for granted. It was not something to be questioned. Such a notion simply never occurred to very many people before.

Gun control was introduced in the United States in very tiny, incremental strokes. None of the gun control legislation banned any type of firearm and neither did it forbid anyone from keeping and bearing arms. Instead, it generally restricted people from bringing their firearms with them into certain, specified places. For example, patrons in certain towns were required to check their firearms at the door upon entering a gambling saloon. Some towns required vistors to check their firearms upon entering the town, proper. Locals were exempt. These were practical solutions for some of the chaos the erupted momentarily from time time as the nation grew and developed. New York City passed the Sullivant Act so as to prohibit the carrying of firearms within the city limits. Ironically, the act was crafted by an Irish gangster-turned-politician. This should tell people something.

Even as late as 1934, when the National Firearms Act was passed, there was no attempt to infringe upon the right of the people to keep and bear arms. Instead, the federal government passed a transfer tax on certain types of firearms with the hope that criminals and gangsters (who were loathe to openly identify themselves) would be deterred from purchasing and selling these weapons. Up until that time, one could purchase a Thompson submachine gun with no questions asked. Even so, very few such firearms were actually purchased and Thompson faced possible bankruptcy. In 1934, people were not at all concerned about the right of the people to keep and bear arms, nor were they particularly concerned about the types and manufacture of specific firearms. They were, however, somewhat concerned about gangsters. Here, it is clear that the people knew guns not to be the problem, but rather dispicable people and lawlessness.

In the mean time, just as the right to keep and bear arms was never questioned, the militia performed its assigned tasks as people fulfilled their civic obligations. As this nation grew and developed, the militia was not merely a good political idea, it was essential for survival. Today and being so far removed from the true dangers of survival, most people do not realize this, even though almost everyone is at least somewhat acquainted with American history. Almost everybody has witnessed the militia in action at least in a great many films, especially Westerns. The militia was essential in the frontier, whether defending against Indian attacks, keeping marauding outlaws at bay, or coming to the aid of their fellow citizens in times of great need such as fires or natural disasters. Certainly most people have seen at least one Western where the local marshall of sheriff assembles a posse from the town's menfolk. This is a depiction of the militia fulfilling its duty.

The reason so many people find themselves so unfamiliar with the militia and their own civic duty is because as America developed, civic governments began to displace the militia with paid manpower, such as municipal police forces. This change began in the East and manifested itself throughout the major cities. Yet, even while the militia was being displaced in urban America, it remained very much active and essential in the wide open spaces of the frontier and in rural America. This was the case as late as the 1950s, and even the early 1960s the most remote regions of the country. Now that a generation or more has passed, the function of the militia becomes more distant and fades in the nation's collective memory.

This was not the case for some of our parents and most of our grandparents - even those living in major cities. Before World War II, the United States did not maintain a large military. Instead, it mobilized its militia and conscripted from its ranks the manpower necessary to meet the needs of the nation as they arose, such as during World War I. Once the need passed, military personnel were released from duty, and America once again returned to its small military and militia-based defense posture. It was only after the end of World War II did all this change and not right away. World War II left considerable unfinished business. There was turmoil in Indonesia and the Soviet Union was still the aggressive menace it was before World War II, excpet now it was mobilized and remained in a wartime footing. Soon, the Cold War erupted and the federal government opted to retain a very large and powerful military presence worldwide. As it did so, the militia became less and less depended upon as the means to secure freedom.

To be sure, the militia simply did not just disappear overnight. The government continued with programs designed to help regulate the militia, such as the Directorate of Civilian Marksmanship (DCM), which provided practical training with military-issue firearms, the M-1 Garrand and M-1 Carbine, in particular. The militia continued to serve the people in rural communities as they have always done before, such as assisting law enforcement and coming to the aid of the people during times of emergencies, such as natural disasters. Even today fragments of the militia still function such as through Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES), volunteer fire departments, volunteer search and rescue, disaster relief agencies, block watches and neighborhood crime reporting projects. It is the same people because people make up the militia and the militia is made up of the everyday common people that make up our civilian population.

One might assume that the militia has become an outdate obsolete function of society - a relic from yesteryear, but this is not true at all. The needs of the people have not changed. Serious and persistent problems remain which are beyond the capacity of elected government and the paid manpower in their employ. Natural disasters still occur regularly with the very same horror and destruction as ever. Outlaw gangs still prey the people and each other in bitter, bloody rivalries. The need for search and rescue has not changed. And although remote at this time, the United States is by no means invulnerable from attack, especially by concerted terrorist organizations. Clearly, the paid professionals hired by state, local and federal government cannot possibly be everywhere at all times meeting all needs for all people. In fact, they are able only to provide but a tiny fraction of the service that is truly required. The need for the militia is a great as ever.

The problem is that the militia is an almost forgotten institution of civic duty, at best. No thanks to purposely-corrupting propagada, the news media has demonized the militia as universally racist paramilitary outlaws, at worst. Although such fell groups most certainly do exist, they neither represent the militia nor make up the militia. The people make up the militia. People such as you and I. This must change and it must change very soon. It is time to put the militia and its most important function of civic duty back in its proper place of service and honor.

The very best manner in which to restore the proper function of the militia is for state governments to fulfill their mandated responsibility to regulate and equip members of the militia. State governments should realize the tremendous assets the militia represents. Restoring the militia to its rightful role and purpose not only makes sense in terms of utility, it also make very good financial sense because itb provides of very large pool of skilled manpower that can be quickly mobilized in times of dire need, as well as provide considerable manpower to assist government-paid professionals. To make this happen, state governments must become very pro-active in supporting, regulating, and building its state militia. Here's how.

Before the state government can go about its appointed task of equipping and regulating its militia, it must first become regulated and organized, itself, for the task. It will require passing requisite legislation (or dusting off the pages of legislation passed years gone by), so as to create the requisite authority and structure necessary for the task of equipping and regulating the state militia. This might come in the form of appointing an advisory board; oversight commissions; establishing liaison with the military, National Guard, and state law enforcement agencies; and other methods. Once the state government, itself, become organized, it can begin going about the task of strategic planning as to so how best organize the state militia. It begins to develop a pathway for communication and information management, while creating an organizational structure the will facilitate chain-of-command. All of this is nothing but common sense organzing with the objective of creating the means and methods by which the the state government can provide for the equipping and regulation of the militia. Proper channels must created and maintained between the state government and its militia. For example, there must be a channel for militia call up (muster); there must be a means by which the state government can provide training, guidelines, standard operating procdeures (SOPs), standardized equipment lists, standard field operations, and the like.

In some of my previous essays I have made the analogy between the militia and volunteer fire departments. It is a very good analogy because if one is familiar who volunteer fire departments are regulated, yet not entagled with government, one can easily understand how the state can equip and regulate the militia. The National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) publishes standards for fire fighting at all levels. It addresses everything from proper clothing, to equipment, to training, to apparatus, to field operations. The International Fire Service Training Association (IFSTA) provides volumes of up-to-date training material that covers all aspects of the fire service. I am familiar with such standards and how they are applied. This is exactly how the state government can go about the task of equipping and regulating the militia.

Volunteer firefighters are not under the direct control of government. They are trained volunteers, whereas the chain-of-command stops at the level of the fire chief, who himself might also be a volunteer. As volunteers, they are not obligated to obey orders from government officials. (As untrained government officials who might face legal liabilities, very few (if any) attempt to give any orders.) Governments rely upon the standards, guidelines, SOPs, and training in order achieve the desired results for their community and generally stay uninvolved. What applies to volunteer firefighters also applies to members of the militia. What is needed is for state government to provide standards, guidelines, SOPs, and training for miliia members as is provided for volunteer firefighters. Here are some suggestions:

1. The state should be divided into militia districts, whereas members of the local populace can be trained and organized together so as to facilitate cohesiveness. Each district can be further subdivided into militia units for the same reason. In some states, militia districts already exist whereas some of these have very long histories, such as the South Eastern Ohio Defense Force, which dates back to the Eighteenth Century. These districts must be maintained. Militia districts and units must have proper indentifaction and designation.
2. Communitication standards must be developed and maintained. These would include call-up procedures, notification procedures, designated radio frequencies, radio and communication protocol, including use of pagers and cellular phones; practice drills, tree-list communication, designated locations for assembly, procedures for vehicle-pooling, identification of vehicles used by the militia during an official call-up, etc..
3. Equipment standards should be developed for the sake of utility and safety. This would include proper field attire, identification, clothes, shoes, personal kit, foul weather gear, survival gear, cold/hot weather attire, and the like. Much of these standards can be borrowed from military specifications (MilSpec) so research is really not warranted.
4. Training standards are a must. Although militia members might not be registered as such (many people would be loathe for registration lists), militia members should have credentials documenting their qualifications at various skills, including handlings specific firearms, radios (e.g., a HAM license), EMT-Basic, CPR, search and rescue, and a great many other catagories. It will be incumbent upon members of the militia to obtain and maintain all such qualifications in accordance with state standards.
5. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) should be developed and be made readily available for all members of the militia. Much of this material can be borrowed from that developed for military basic training, from the safety services, such as IFSTA or NFPA (for search and rescue, personal safety guidelines), and from law enforcement basic training. It is imparrative that militia members be very well acquainted with state law as it pertains to what they can and cannot do. They are not law enforcement personnel, per se, but might very easily be utilized by law enforcement as the need arises. Certification and qualification is very important here. Members of the militia most know proper reporting procedures, how to follow chain-of-command, be acquanited with unity of command, and be intimately familiar with expected conduct.
6. Basic Field Operating procedures should be developed so that members of the militia know what is expected of them (and their limitations) if deployed. They will need to know how to report for service and whom to report to. They will need to know the basics of field communications and related protocol. They will need to know safe operating practices. This could include procedures such as how to build a sandbag dike, to how to conduct a search for a missing person, how to perform recon and surveilance, basic outdoors skills, basic survival skills, how to conducts a proper neighborhood crime watch, proper communications with local law enforcement and safety services, search and rescue techniques (such as with a collapsed building), how to manage a disaster relief facility, how to perform evacuations, the basics of logistical support, driving heavy equipment (like a military 6X4 truck), basic platoon deployment, and basic combat tactics.
7. Along with training standards, the state government very much provide for actual supervised hands-on training. This is where individual members of the militia can obtain certain certifications and qualifications. It will allow members of the militia to work and be trained by the same professionals they might be working along side some day, such as during a state emergency. This is where, for example, a member of the militia might learn how to drive a military 6X4 truck, become certified as an EMT-B, or find the means of obtaining a HAM radio license. This is also where members of the militia can receive proper training and qualifications with military-type firearms, including maintenance, breakdown, safety, and storage (as well as develop marksmanship skills). Training programs should also include drills and regular opportunity for practice.
8. It is essential that the state government develop channels and liaison between the milita and paid professionals of whom they will very likely be working with. This would necessarily include the state National Guard, as well as local law enforcement and safety services. It would be a very good idea to appoint a commanding liaison officer within the National Guard itself, because after all, the National Guard is the organized militia (except when it has become federalized). The function and mission of the state National Guard is very similar to that of the militia, except the militia is made up of volunteers, cannot be pressed into service, is not obligated to state government, and requires only very basic training, much less than of guardsmen. Members of the militia, as volunteers, would not be expected to perform in the same capacity as guardsmen and would not be expected to placed in harm's way as would a guardsman.

These are only but a handful of suggestions, but one would hope very worthy suggestions. One of the primary goals of restoring the militia to its proper role and function is that of providing the means for people to become very involved with their communities through volunteering. It is very important that the people come to realize that they need not depend upon government to meet all of their needs or the needs of their community. They are quite capable of meeting a great many needs that have only recently been pushed upon government. Knowing that they are quite sufficient in and of themselves, the people would come to understand the pleasure of freedom and the requisite responsibility for maintaining it. As the people of any given community come together to address community problems (such as local crime for example), as they will once they realize that they have the means to truly address such problems, the community becomes strengthened. Becoming an active member of the militia (as opposed to being inactive members of the militia as most people are now) many people will come to realize that they are truly more than they think of themselves.

By restoring the proper role and function of the militia, state (and local) government might realize a tremendous windfall in human resources and manpower. Most certainly a regulated militia would be a potent asset for county and state disaster planners. As one who is somewhat familiar with such disaster plans, what looks good on paper often can turn into absolute chaos in the field, where human lives are very much at stake. I am being very candid and serious here. I have been part of mock disasters (including a recent one for "weapons of mass destuction") and have made observations of several others. Even as a mock drill, chaos quickly develops to the point where management quickly becomes overwhelmed. One notes that defense of the state and the nation comes quickly to mind when speaking of the militia in the classical sense. However, the militia is much more than that. It is public service at its very finest. It provides autonomy and self-reliance for the people. It allows people to better realize that they, themselves, are the government and are quite capable of both particpating and functioning as members of the government. Likewise, it allows people to realize that their elected government, with all of its bureaucrats, agencies, rules, regulation, and insider politics, are nothing more than the current expression of the government of the people and by the people. The people have the means of changing all that, and who knows, maybe one day people will again begin trusting some of the elected government again.

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