The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is short and simple: “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.”
That’s it; that’s the language on which Americans have been pretty much given the right to arm themselves with very little limitation. However, the Supreme Court’s decisions regarding this Amendment seem to have ignored its conditional introduction: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State….”
Essentially, we’ve given the right to the people to keep and bear arms without infringement, but we and the courts have neglected giving them the ability to use those arms for their constitutionally specified purpose.
Now, I’m not a fan of guns and not much of a fan of militias either. Nevertheless, if we’re going to strictly adhere to the Constitution when it comes to the Second Amendment, then we better get started on paying attention to its militia requirements, which we’ve neglected for the past 225 years.
Although a state doesn’t have to establish a militia, those that want to do so apparently have a sanctioned Second Amendment right. And we all know how sacred that right is.
In other words, if the Constitution won’t let us control the several hundred million guns floating around this country, then maybe the Founders’ idea of militias to protect the people in each state from being overrun by federal authorities deserves some careful consideration. After all, the federal government has a whole f***ing army with tanks and nuclear weapons while the states have just the National Guard, which the president can nationalize at the drop of a helmet.
Let’s stop wasting time and start establishing the well-regulated militias that the people have been armed to populate without infringement.
Anyway, here’s my proposal to do just that. It is a bit legalistic, I’ll admit, but apparently so is gun control; I just wanted to cover all the bases to make sure gun owners don’t have to give up their guns while performing the patriotic duties for which they claim they need them.
- Any state so choosing shall establish, operate, and fund a Militia for the purposes of its defense against all threats, foreign and domestic.
- All firearms owners, regardless of age, shall be required to belong to and participate in such a state militia. Registration in said militia is required in order to possess, purchase, or otherwise obtain any firearm(s). Militias shall issue registration certificates to all firearms owners in their membership.
- A “firearms owner” shall be defined as an individual or organization in possession of a firearm(s) whether such firearm(s) has (have) been purchased, rented, loaned, or otherwise obtained.
- Possession of a firearm shall include, but not be limited to, carrying firearms on one’s person or storing firearms in one’s home, storage facility, vehicle, or other location under the control of the firearms owner.
- All adults residing in or occupying any household or using a vehicle where firearms are stored, kept, or otherwise available shall be considered “firearms owners” and shall be required to participate in state militia activities as members.
- Persons under the age of 18 years shall be prohibited from owning firearms or handling or using firearms except under the supervision of a parent or guardian who is a certified state militia member.
- Militias shall meet one weekend per month for eleven months of the year and for two weeks in the twelfth month to be trained and to maintain such training so as to be ready to defend their state with the firearms they choose to own.
- Militias shall provide all ammunition to be used by firearms owners in the course of their training and readiness maintenance.
- Militias shall provide all necessary meals and accommodations for all training set forth herein.
- An individual may not purchase or possess a firearm without having attended at least one weekend state militia training session so as ensure that he/she will have been properly trained to participate in state militia operations.
- All firearms and accessories owned must be brought to each training session for inspection as to readiness for use in state militia operations.
- Individual firearms owners who fail to attend the training sessions specified above shall be required to surrender all firearms that they own or that are otherwise in their possession or control until such time as they have attended two consecutive state militia training sessions.
- Possession of firearm(s) in violation of the requirements herein shall constitute a felony punishable by suspension of state militia membership, participation, and firearms privileges for one year and, for each firearm so possessed, a fine of $1,000 and/or imprisonment for six months
- Individuals who choose not to own firearms shall, with the exception of Article #13 above, be excused from the state militia requirements set forth herein. Such individuals shall be required to register with their state militia as non-firearms owners and shall be provided with an identity certificate attesting to their status. Non-firearms owners shall be required to carry and produce said certificate when requested to do so by law enforcement. Failure to produce said certificate when properly requested shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed $10.00.
- Any person wishing to renounce their non-firearms owner status may do so at any time by surrendering their non-firearms owner certificate when purchasing or otherwise acquiring a firearm and joining a state militia.
- Possession of a firearm(s) by a person who has registered according to Article #14 above shall be deemed a felony and shall be punishable by a fine of $10,000 and/or one year in prison for each such firearm possessed.
- Active law enforcement officials and members of the military who are required to carry firearms in the execution of their responsibilities shall be excused from state militia participation.
- There shall be no limit on the number of firearms any individual or organization may possess so long as those firearms are possessed in accordance with the provisions herein.
- There is no requirement to register firearms. A state militia membership certificate does not constitute firearms registration, rather it simply attests to an individual’s enrollment in the state militia.
- Firearms properly possessed in accordance with the provisions herein may be carried or stored anywhere without limitation except as otherwise prohibited by law.
- Individuals who have been convicted of the use of firearms in the commission of any felony, misdemeanor, or infraction shall be prohibited from firearms ownership or militia participation for a period of ten years, after which they will be permitted to appeal to a court with proper jurisdiction for reinstatement of their firearms owner status. Such appeals may be made no more frequently than once every two years.
- Out-of-state visitors who are certified members of a state militia in another state may be permitted to carry or possess firearms for a period of no more than thirty days after which they shall be deemed residents who are obligated to join this state’s militia with all its obligations and benefits.
- Individuals with disability (ies) that might prevent their active participation in a state militia shall be excused from state militia participation upon demonstration that they can safely operate their firearms despite said disability(ies) and that their disability (ies) hinder(s) their active militia participation despite provisions that may be made to accommodate their incapacitation.
Now, I know some of you are going to say the foregoing infringes on gun ownership rights with all these militia requirements when all you wanted to do was own a gun and shoot things now and then. Well, the Supreme Court certainly believes you deserve the right to own that gun and— subject to a few minimal restrictions—play with it as you see fit. But that pesky old Second Amendment you’ve been waving around all these years deserves some of that same due consideration for state militias that you’ve been demanding for guns. According to the militia part of the Second Amendment, gun ownership appears not only to carry some responsibility but it also calls upon your patriotic duty to defend our Freedom. It seems not to be a free ride.
You can add your own provisions, but remember, the idea is not to infringe on anybody’s right to bear arms. This should not be about gun control, which almost always seems to run afoul of the courts; it’s about organizing constitutionally mandated militias to aim firearms at their constitutionally mandated target. After all, that’s what the Founders must have wanted, or they wouldn’t have stuck those militias in the Second Amendment with firearms where, after all these years, they might actually do us some good.