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To: D. Long who wrote (94537)	1/10/2005 1:10:09 PM
From: Ilaine	Respond to of 793820

I was only taking umbrage at the "national crisis" bit. But should have dusted off my US Code - here's the definition: 10 U.S.C. § 311 - Militia: composition and classes (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. (Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 14; Pub. L. 85-861, Sec. 1(7), Sept. 2, 1958, 72 Stat. 1439; Pub. L. 103-160, div. A, title V, Sec. 524(a), Nov. 30, 1993, 107 Stat. 1656.) U.S. Code 10 U.S.C. § 311 That seems innocuous enough.

To: D. Long who wrote (94537)	1/10/2005 3:19:08 PM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793820

Karen's posting of a Wikipedia entry on "militia" completely perplexed me, for example. Wikipedia isn't a source of Constitutional scholarship, that I know of. No, but Wikipedia is just excellent at providing a comprehensive framework on some subjects with links to particulars. You will note that they specified four different ways the term, militia, has been used worldwide and over time, including yours. I added to the clip I posted "more" and the link expecting you to follow it to the US Code citation, which is what you said you were "too lazy to look up." You're perplexed about my being helpful? <g> ---------------- United States The early Puritan colonists of America considered the militia an important social structure, necessary to defend their colonies from Native American attacks. All able-bodied white males were expected to be members of the town militia. In the American Revolutionary War, colonial militiamen or armed citizens agreed to turn out for service at a minute's notice. The term minutemen is used especially for the men who were enrolled (1774) for such service by the Massachusetts provincial congress. These were also known as the "valiant farmers" who fought against the British at Lexington and Concord. The framers of the United States Constitution, in keeping with this tradition, gave Congress the power to "provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia," as well as, and in distinction to, the power to raise an army and a navy. The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution may have been intended to formalize this balance between the "well-regulated" militia and organized military forces. Considerable controversy exists in the US over this amendment, however, and the ability of even a well-regulated militia to resist a modern army is not widely agreed upon. (See section regarding the efficacy of militias below.) The current United States Code, Title 10 (Armed forces), section 311 (Militia: Composition and Classes), paragraph (a) states "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." The National Guard is the largest of the organized state militia forces in the United States. The guard is under both federal and state control, and both the President of the United States and state governors can call upon it. Since the 2003 Invasion of Iraq many National Guard units have served overseas. This can lead to problems for states that also face internal emergencies while the Guard is deployed overseas. To address such issues, many of the states, such as New York and Maryland also have organized state militia forces or State Guards which are under the control of the governor of a state and used to augment the National Guard. During some wars, both the suitability and effectiveness of the National Guard have been questioned, because of perceptions that personnel are often hastily, or not fully, trained for the roles they are asked to perform. For many decades, there were persistent allegations of nepotism and/or favoritism in the commissioning and assignment of officers. (See, for example, George W. Bush military service controversy.) I'm a bit in the dark about what everyone's perspective is. I am in CB's camp. Except for my little toe. The militia is the collective population of able-bodied male citizens. If the US ever had to implement anything involving the militia there would be hell to pay over the definition,"able-bodied men." It excludes able-bodied women and includes gangsters, among other unsuitable types. I chucked over the post suggesting that the government give all members of the "militia" a gun and the one about some jurisdiction mandating all households have a gun.