There is a lot of talk today about reviving the idea from a few decades ago to ban some of the guns held by U.S. citizens. Remember those days in the ’70s and ’80s? Gun control became a hot-button political topic, complete with rants from the left and accompanying news stories from their faithful minions in the media. But the push withered away. A few decades later, it’s back.
Make no mistake. If your “government” starts with taking semi-automatic rifles, that move will be only the first step. It will be followed eventually by cries to remove long rifles and shotguns, then handguns. The end game in the minds of some of our so-called leaders and their controllers, I believe, is to have the citizenry disarmed. The reasons for such a posture are not the topic of this column.
A part of the conversation from gun control advocates, both now and in past decades, deals with their assertion that today’s America is different from the days that lead to the inclusion of the 2nd Amendment. Guns were in the hands of the various militia groups that dotted the American landscape. And those days have changed, gun control advocates insist.
Okay, let’s think about that. In those days the firearm was propped next to the cabin door and was the means of protection for the family. Years passed, and the American Revolution arrived. I think it’s safe to say that, when the call to arms came, many of those responding grabbed the gun propped against the cabin wall, left their families behind and went to fight for their freedom.
There were no National Guard armories that stockpiled weapons in those days. You took your own weapon or you went empty-handed. The militias consisted of groups of people in very small geographic areas who banded together to fight. Those geographic areas were called militia districts.
But that was then and this is now, say the gun control advocates. But that’s not true, at least in Georgia, because militia districts are still around. But there’s more.
“But although the organized Georgia Militia is dead, the Georgia Militia Districts are very much alive and enter daily into the activities of all of our citizens in anything connected with (1) the territorial jurisdiction of Justice of the Peace Courts; (2) the boundaries of election districts; (3) the return of property for taxation; (4) stock and fence laws; (5) the conveyancing of land in headright counties; and (6) in all other circumstances specifically referred to in the laws of the Senate as presently codified,” according to Ga. Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s website. (http://sos.georgia.gov/archives/what_do_we_have/GeorgiaMilitiaDistricts.htm)
Militia districts in Georgia were formed in 1755. Today’s Fayette County, for example, still comprises nine militia districts, and Coweta County comprises 14.
The legal stance on Georgia militias goes on to say that, “The 1910 Code omitted all references to the Militia as a military force. It is true that the Act of Aug. 21, 1916 (Chap 86-2 of the 1933 Code) and the Act of Feb. 19, 1951 (Chap. 86-1 of the 1933 Code Supplement) contain references to the unorganized Militia, but it is obvious that they are included only to provide for a reservoir of manpower who could be made subject to the draft and duty in the defense of the State in emergencies of the gravest nature.
Technically, every citizen of the State, between the ages of 17 and 45, who is not a member of the National Guard or other organized military force, is today a member of the unorganized Georgia Militia in the Militia District in which he resides.”
I hope you read that carefully. The legal opinion said a “reservoir of manpower” for “defense of the state in emergencies of the gravest nature.”
I don’t know about you, but I believe an attempt by the federal government to take our weapons would constitute a grave emergency. For without a forceful means to protect our families what are we supposed to do when the criminals show up or when the jack-boots kick our door in? Use harsh language?
But what about the other states, the other counties? Can you imagine Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio (Phoenix, Ariz.) or a host of other sheriffs holding constitutional office across America bending to the will of a federal government that has been out of control for decades?
Maybe the feds will try an end-run by sending in the troops to take selected sheriffs and deputies into custody to make an example and frighten the citizens of the targeted counties into submission – with the hope of creating nationwide domino effect. Or maybe federal funds will be cut from those local governments in an attempt to force submission.
Bottom line, I believe that in the absence of a sufficient means of fear and intimidation to compel us to give up our guns (such as successfully using targeted communities to set an example and gain our compliance) there is little hope of the feds getting their way, regardless of any Executive Order or Presidential Decision Directive that may be issued.
But if an attempt is made, we’ll see the extent to which “We the People” have any revolutionary spirit left flowing in our veins. What our controllers are counting on, I believe, is that Jefferson’s “tree of liberty” has long since withered on the vine.
[Ben Nelms is a reporter for The Citizen.]
