Bring back the Militia, in America?

The second amendment to the U.S. Constitution has bothered me for a long time. It wasn’t so much the gun ownership rights issue, but more the words, the phrasing and the context. The current battle over increased gun control regulation has made me really contemplate the nature of the second amendment in a historical and modern-day context. Consequently, my understanding of it has evolved along with its application in our world today.

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Unlike picking up a Bible and feeling confident that the translation of Greek into modern English really captured the essence of the original text, interpreting the constitution must be far more precise because people’s lives are involved.

Where was the Malian Militia?

This was all brought home to me when I read how the residents of Timbuktu in Mali were jubilant over how the French forces had liberated their town from tyrannical Islamist extremists. Mali is a poor country that won their independence from France in 1960. Parts of Mali today, especially the northwest where fighting has occurred,  bear striking similarities to our early colonists that fought for independence from England in 1776 in terms of education and standard of living.

Whereas the inhabitants of the American colonies could arm themselves with weapons on par with the English armies, Malians had little hope of securing weapons equivalent to what the Islamists could acquire. Nonetheless, there was still a possibility that local Malian militias could have provided some resistance to the invading jihadist forces.

Local Militia mandate

For me, that has become the spirit and essence of the second amendment: local non-military residents organized and trained to defend their state against hostilities from either an internal foe or foreign invader. The militia units of the 18th century in America were comprised of local citizens meeting a couple times of year for exercises and they had to own their own gun. Often times, it was mandated by the government that all able bodied men of a certain age participate.

Don’t Tread On Me

The battles of the revolutionary war were still very fresh in the minds of the men who wrote the constitution and Bill of Rights. Not unlike the wilderness of Mali, survival meant the local residents had to be prepared for any calamity and that included attacks. They also recognized that laws diminishing the colonist’s capability to repel a hostile invasion by limiting weapons or organizations such as militias, was an attempt to weaken a fledgling nation that was distrustful of concentrated centralized power.

Bring back Militias

Upon reflecting on the nature and context of the second amendment, I deem it is necessary to bring back local militias. Those countries with a fractured and impoverished population should give serious consideration to organizing local militias to keep peace and possibly repel religious zealots’ intent on taking away their freedoms. Sometimes organized militias end up creating a civil war.

Can we fight the CIA or U.N.?

For America, local militias organized to fight a conspiratorial inspired scenario that the federal government, or United Nations, is close to abridging our second amendment rights, we are in a position no better than the population in Timbuktu to fight and Islamist force with modern weapons of war. If President Obama has hatched some nefarious plan to over take our towns, strip our rights and take our guns, even the best militia armed with the latest assault rifles will be no match for the U.S. Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force, not to mention the CIA!

Militia or community group

I’m not sure what role, if any, a voluntary militia group in America serves anymore. The state National Guard units respond to disasters along with the Red Cross. Perhaps we have given over too much responsibility to government institutions to handle local disasters eliminating the need for community driven organizations. Our suburbs are just vast expanses of homes where neighbors rarely know one another and would be hard pressed to coordinate any response to a local crisis.

Second Amendment…it’s a valid right

With the demise of the local militia we have also lost community involvement, knowledge and awareness. I am not advocating that all the guys and gals in your neighborhood bring their guns out to the local park and begin a local militia. But I can appreciate the spirit of the second amendment for gun ownership and local groups to organize, meet and be prepared for emergencies.