My Proposal for a "Well-Regulated Militia"

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My Proposal for a "Well-Regulated Militia"

Postby Lumpy on Tue Oct 06, 2015 12:17 pm

In the never-ending debates about guns on a forum I participate in, a frequent objection by the antis- aside from their insistence that the Second Amendment refers to a regimented state army- is that the mass of the populace buying and owning guns with no licensing or training requirements can hardly be called "well-regulated" (in the 18th century meaning of the term). I have a proposal that I think would silence those critics without infringing on the right to own and carry weapons, and I wanted to run it by the good folk here.

My idea is to revive the mustering of the militia in a modern form, which would go like this: just as jury duty is a civic obligation of all citizens, all citizens not otherwise exempted or disqualified (see below) would have to report for "Militia Duty", which in these modern times would consist of a gun knowledge and marksmanship class similar to what's now required for carry. Aside from the usual disqualifications of felons, minors, those adjudicated incompetent, etc., the exemptions would amount to conscientious objectors: anyone willing to swear that they don't own a gun, have no plans to acquire a gun, and promise to notify the militia authorities if they ever do get a gun. Lying about that would be a misdemeanor punishable by a stiff fine and/or no more than one year in jail.

A key provision of this would be a sub-clause stating that the requirements would in no way disqualify anyone from owning or carrying a gun. Instead, if you passed the course you would not need to retake it for five years. If you didn't pass, you would be required to retake it every 30 days until you did (or swore to not own a gun). In other words, the penalties mentioned above would be for shirking militia duty, not for owning a gun.

This may be the "perfect" compromise (i.e., equally displeases both sides), but I thought I'd get the opinion of those here.
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Re: My Proposal for a "Well-Regulated Militia"

Postby photogpat on Tue Oct 06, 2015 12:21 pm

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Re: My Proposal for a "Well-Regulated Militia"

Postby Ghost on Tue Oct 06, 2015 1:57 pm

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Re: My Proposal for a "Well-Regulated Militia"

Postby CROSBYK2 on Tue Oct 06, 2015 2:01 pm

Who would be the militia authorities be and how would they become authorities? This seemed like a good idea until I thought of this question. I always worry when we start talking about authorities, especially in a military organizations. My past history with the military and its authorities have shown me a group of less than desirable individuals that I would not want to be subject to. How do we prevent that here? Perhaps belonging to a militia might be appealing to some, but not for me, especially as a requirement to have a permit to carry.

I would also add that trying to appease the anti libtards with anything would probably be a waste of time, but I would applaud your effort.
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Re: My Proposal for a "Well-Regulated Militia"

Postby Erud on Tue Oct 06, 2015 4:27 pm

Seems like a lot of hoops to jump through just to exercise a constitutional right.
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My Proposal for a "Well-Regulated Militia"

Postby jshuberg on Tue Oct 06, 2015 5:39 pm

The Supreme Court settled this in 2008. The 2A is an individual right. It always has been. End of argument.


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Re: My Proposal for a "Well-Regulated Militia"

Postby JJ on Tue Oct 06, 2015 8:06 pm

Yeah, no.
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Re: My Proposal for a "Well-Regulated Militia"

Postby crbutler on Tue Oct 06, 2015 8:32 pm

I dunno...

I might be for it if it meant we would be treated like the Army.

Free ammo and real heavy weapons. You want a tank, you can get it... Dittos to jet interceptors, etc.

In any case, there is court precedent that the militia is the collective body of the population, except for a few limited exceptions.
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Re: My Proposal for a "Well-Regulated Militia"

Postby xd ED on Tue Oct 06, 2015 8:32 pm

So you're trying to pacify some who are arguing that 9 of the 10 amendments in the Bill of Rights acknowledge the liberties of the people and restraint on the government's reach and control, and the Second Amendment is unique in dealing with the how and why of the government's armies... :cogitating:

...I would argue the the militia should indeed be well regulated. . . by and for the people, not vice versa.
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Re: My Proposal for a "Well-Regulated Militia"

Postby atomic41 on Wed Oct 07, 2015 6:03 am

Only two comments:

"Well regulated" in the proper context of the day, meant to be well equipped. In other words, the founders meant for the people to be as well armed as any military force. The founders spelled this out in their papers.

Remember when el president was campaigning in 2008 for this? For those with short memories: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt2yGzHfy7s
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Re: My Proposal for a "Well-Regulated Militia"

Postby Ghost on Wed Oct 07, 2015 6:10 am

atomic41 wrote:Only two comments:

"Well regulated" in the proper context of the day, meant to be well equipped. In other words, the founders meant for the people to be as well armed as any military force. The founders spelled this out in their papers.

Remember when el president was campaigning in 2008 for this? For those with short memories: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt2yGzHfy7s

I don't think he meant what you thought he meant. ;)
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Re: My Proposal for a "Well-Regulated Militia"

Postby Rip Van Winkle on Wed Oct 07, 2015 9:23 am

"Well regulated" in today's vernacular would mean well disciplined in the use of small arms.

I've long advocated the adoption of a Swiss like model where all adult males would be required to qualify with the countries service rifle. And turn the national championships into a festival like their Schützenfest.
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My Proposal for a "Well-Regulated Militia"

Postby jshuberg on Wed Oct 07, 2015 6:43 pm

Regulate meant "to make regular". When congress was granted authority to regulate commerce between the states, it was to make commerce regular. To make it normal. To eliminate disparate tariffs on goods crossing state lines.

A well regulated militia meant a regular militia, a normalized militia, an equivalent militia to that of the Army. The 2nd Amendment could be phrased this way to make it more understandable in modern times:

A militia comprised of the people, that is equipped and trained equivalent to that of the military, is necessary to maintain the security of a country that respects individual freedom. The right of the people to own and carry weapons shall never be infringed upon.

Or something like that.


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Re: My Proposal for a

Postby clemmac on Thu Oct 08, 2015 8:16 am

jshuberg wrote:The Supreme Court settled this in 2008. The 2A is an individual right. It always has been. End of argument.


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"The 2A is an individual right. It always has been. End of argument. "

Yes!
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Re: My Proposal for a

Postby ex-LT on Thu Oct 08, 2015 12:35 pm

jshuberg wrote:The Supreme Court settled this in 2008. The 2A is an individual right. It always has been. End of argument.

Until such time as a future court overrules Heller or McDonald. And before you say that can't happen, I will point out that it has happened in the past (over 100 times), and you'd be foolish to think it couldn't happen again.

One more reason we have to be extremely vigilant about who we support in 2016 and beyond.
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