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Constitutional militia movement

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The term constitutional militia movement has been used to refer to privately organized citizen militia-related groups that blossomed in the mid 1990s. The supporters have not been affiliated with any government organization. They support a restoration of the militia system as envisioned by the Founding Fathers, and enforcement of a strict construction of the U.S. Constitution, especially the Second Amendment, according to their understanding of it. They assert that the right to keep and bear arms is not just a right, but that the people have a duty to be armed as deterrence against crime and governmental tyranny. These Militia units train in the proper and safe use of firearms, so that they may be effective if called upon by the sheriff of their country, governor of their state, or the president of the United States, to uphold liberty, protect the people in times of crisis (i.e. disasters such as Hurricane Katrina), or to defend against invasion and terrorism. U.S. Constitution, Art. I Sec. 8 Cl. 15 & 16.

=Controversy

The constitutional militia movement has drawn professional critics. Mark Pitcavage wrote this about it:

"The movement's ideology has led some adherents to commit criminal acts, including stockpiling illegal weapons and explosives and plotting to destroy buildings or assassinate public officials, as well as lesser confrontations.".

Notes

  1. Jonathan Karl, The Right to Bear Arms: The Rise of America's New Militias, HarperCollins, New York (1995) ISBN 0061010154
  2. American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 44, No. 6, 957-981 (2001), Mark Pitcavage

References

  • The American Colonial Militia, 1606-1785, by James B. Whisker, Edwin Mellen Pr. (1997) ISBN 0773485201
  • The Militia, by James B. Whisker, Edwin Mellen Pr. (1992) ISBN 0773495533
  • The Rise and Decline of the American Militia System, by James B. Whisker, Susquehanna University Press (1999) ISBN 094563692X