Sahba
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- Mar 2, 2018
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- #61
The phrase Well Regulated Militia goes back to the founding of the nation. This by the way is backed up by the Militia Act which was passed in the first Congress. The term referred to the fact that the Governors of the new States had the power and duty to appoint officers. The letter commissioning an officer to a specific rank. Additionally, well regulated meant that while the Militia was activated, the members had to obey and adhere to military discipline. In other words, obey orders.
The Militia met weekly in some but not all states, where it was a mandatory time of drill after divine worship. The Militia was defined as every able bodied free man. Today, with our sense of equality, it would be every able bodied free person. At the time, Slaves were not considered members of the Militia, nor were persons in prison or jail.
All of this has been posted before many times. Either you are stupid, which is to say you refuse to learn the truth. Or you are somehow; incredibly considering the availability of the information; ignorant. It is because the latter is a remote possibility, that I bothered to post the information again. Would you like the usual demand for links that either you have seen and ignored, or can’t possibly manage to find on your own? Hint, it’s called the Militia Act.
Ya know the 'ol adage' about opinions and a-holes... Well, interpretations or opinions on the meaning & relegated role of Militias have mysteriously morphed to meet individuals versions of their 'truth' in recounting what the original documents laid forth on the matter (especially perhaps the last couple hundred years of Congress... that keeps revising its self on the Militia Act).
It's probably safe to assume that the further away you get from 1776 the more bull Sheite has been infused into 'original intent'. The second sentence of your above where it says "Governors of the new States had the power" should leave one queasy ... Wait you say, weren't the founders crafting a Federal document in the Constitution which all the States would be under the umbrella of (governors included)... I understand every entity likes to render their interpretation as the and and be all (including the Militia Act of 1792... O wait, wasn't there a second one the same year adjusting the 1st... lol), I would submit however, that individuals (even or especially lone SCOTS justices) do not have the authority to foist their opinion on the matter as the final authority. As an aside, look at Scalia on interpretation of 'common carry'... J P Stevens on abolishing the 2A etc. P.S. I do rather like the wording of (10 US Code) which allows people like myself to be a part (Joint the Nat. Guard is all it takes sisters... yeh, no prob. right) lol P.P.S for busy work, anyone care to count the number of "Militia Acts" between the 1st one in May of 1792 to present.... lol
In the Words of Thomas Jefferson:
“For a people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well organized and armed militia is their best security.”
“[The People] are the ultimate guardians of their own liberty.”
In the Words of George Mason and James Madison:
“I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people except for a few public officials.”
-George Mason
“That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defence of a free State; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided, as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.”
-James Madison and George Mason, Virginia Declaration of Rights
In the Words of John Adams:
“The militia and sovereignty are inseparable. In the English constitution, if the whole nation were a militia, there would be a militia to defend the crown, the lords, or the commons, if either were attacked. The crown, though it commands them, has no power to use them improperly, because it cannot pay or subsist them without the consent of the lords and commons; but if the militia are to obey a sovereignty in a single assembly, it is commanded, paid, and subsisted, and a standing army, too, may be raised, paid, and subsisted, by the vote of a majority; the militia, then, must all obey the sovereign majority, or divide, and part follow the majority, and part the minority. This last case is civil war; but, until it comes to this, the whole militia may be employed by the majority in any degree of tyranny and oppression over the minority.
The constitution furnishes no resource or remedy; nothing affords a chance of relief but rebellion and civil war. If this terminates in favor of the minority, they will tyrannize in their turn, exasperated by revenge, in addition to ambition and avarice; if the majority prevail, their domination becomes more cruel, and soon ends in one despot. It must be made a sacred maxim, that the militia obey the executive power, which represents the whole people in the execution of laws. To suppose arms in the hands of citizens, to be used at individual discretion, except in private self-defence, or by partial orders of towns, counties, or districts of a state, is to demolish every constitution, and lay the laws prostrate, so that liberty can be enjoyed by no man; it is a dissolution of the government. The fundamental law of the militia is, that it be created, directed, and commanded by the laws, and ever for the support of the laws.”
–A Defence of the Constitutions of Government (1787)
In the Words of the 10 US Code, and the Conclusion which must be Drawn:
“(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are—
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.”
-10 US Code 246
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