U.S. National Militias

For those interested here is a list of militias by state and here is an article on the militia movement in the US.

Whatever happened to the Michigan Militia? Weren't they the subject of a lot of scrutiny back in the early 90's? They must be going bananas right now.

Bookmarked it, thanks a bunch I was wondering about militias in our area as well just in case I decided to join one once I move back.

Just a question what is the legality of a militia. Is it state ran or just locally ran? Does the constitution give us a right to form a militia to protect ourselves from both foreign and domestic enemies? Give me the Gist.

reply to post by mybigunit


Militia formations are legal rights of citizens, however in the event of an emergency or need, the militias MUST obey the commands of the Governor of that state, providence, commonwealth.

The Government CANNOT disband a militia. The President of the United States CANNOT take over a militia.

States are not supposed to keep standing militias, except for the single organized militia that is the states defense force (known as State National Guard) which was controlled under the command of the Governors until George Bush somehow managed to take control of all 51 State Guards and sent them to Iraq.

Bush is the first president in history to take command from the governors.

Any militia not sanctioned, funded etc by the state is considered an Unorganized Militia.

In the war of 1812 the last time unorganized militias where used on a large scale, some state's refused to allow their militias to cross state lines to defend other states.. New York for instance sat out of the war for a good long while, until the British crossed into New York territory did the unorganized militias under their governor attack the invading forces.

Not many people understand that every state is an independent nation, witha constitution and thus a right to self preservation before any other state.. this includes the legal allowance of unorganized militias.

25 states + the territory of Puerto Rico also have a State (or Territorial in Puerto Rico's case) Defense Force that is similar to the National Guard but cannot serve outside that particular state or territory. Most of them are infantry oriented with limited support elements (mostly medical and military police detachments). Their quality varies from so so to useless.

See here:
en.wikipedia.org...
www.sgaus.org...

New York State Guard: www.dmna.state.ny.us...
New York State Naval Militia: www.dmna.state.ny.us...

EDIT: There are actually 50 State National Guards + 1 federal district National Guard (Washington DC) + 3 Territorial National Guards. American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands dont have active Guard units.


[edit on 12-11-2008 by ChrisF231]

I have to applaud The Militia Movement in the United States article. It was one of the first legitimate pro-militia explorations into the movement, one that was very sociological as opposed to conspiratorial, like so many of its counterparts are. The entire website approaches the issue from a standpoint of reality and does not make any false claims or theories about secret behind-the-scenes cabals aimed at subverting the entire world.

At the same time, it showed that I really do not know what to believe anymore. I was for Ron Paul, a guy who claims to be a Constitutionalist. When I found out what the Constitution provides for America, I became a Constitutionalist myself. All of a sudden, I read this article and find that this once-benign document is actually right in line with the current activities of our government. No wonder there's no conspiracy - these guys have been playing by the rules all along.

It shows to me that anybody is capable of spreading lies and propaganda, whether they know it or not. It also shows that there is no good or bad guy in this whole deal. The federal government (and the whole power elite, which this article hints at) is simply doing what many of us as individuals do every day: retain our power and wealth. The article also points out the importance of the rule of law and that even though we disagree with the Constitution and the government, it suddenly does not mean we can stockpile weapons and use violence to further our own agendas. It would only prove the same sad lesson over again (not to mention there are no conspiracies).

I really don't know what to believe anymore. The government's purpose may indeed not be to benefit the American people, but sometimes it seems worth defending as well. Maybe we're all being lied to. Maybe nobody is in control and that's we fight for it.

It all at least teaches me the importance of being an independent, and why it never pays to be an idealogue. Even if its Ron Paul.