There seems to be an abundance of “Ask the XXX” threads lately, so I thought I’d throw my hat in the ring.
Yes, militia. You know, the plaid-shirted, gun-toting good ‘ol boys[sup]1[/sup] training for the day the balloon flies.
Go ahead, I’ll answer anything…
[sup]1[/sup][sub]Well not really, but that’s a popular conception of us.[/sub]
Why do you feel it’s necessary for you to be in a militia?
I live in Ohio, and by definition I’m already in it. But it really has to do with a sense of duty; if the preverbal SHTF, the citizens will need someone to defend the them at the local level. And if I’m going to defend anyone (including and most importantly, my family), then it’s incumbent on me to train.
What type of event do you believe is most likely to result in the proverbial ‘SHTF’? Do you think it might be possible that you would be fighting against U.S. government forces??
Thanks.
Crafter_Man, as you might guess from my post in GQ, I am familiar with the negative stereotype of militias.
The Anti-Defamation league says this about The Militia Movement:
Is this description of your militia accurate? Is the description accurate for any militia organization with which you are familiar? To which militia do you belong?
Just from your profile, you might be too. All males age 18 - 49??? are by federal code part of the unorganized militia. IIRC women are added to the ranks because of some of the equal opportunity laws.
I am proud to be a member of the US unorganized militia.
How many of the members of your militia hold ‘unorthodox’ views? What’s your militia’s name? How many members are in it?
It’s anybody’s guess. But in my opinion the most like contenders would be:
a) Foreign troops on our soil acting as a “police force”
b) U.N. troops on our soil acting as a “police force”
c) Firearms ban
d) Random checkpoints (“I vont to see your papers, please…”)
Possible? Yes. But I pray it will never come to that.
How do you deal with people who buy into the stereotype that militia members are all a bunch of right-wing nutjobs waiting for the least little reason to gun down every politician in Washington?
No.
The description is accurate for many militias that existed in the mid-1990’s, but militias today rarely fit the description. I’m not aware of any militias defined as (stereotypically) “right wing/extreme,” but I have met individuals in the militia who are anti-government, conspiracy oriented, etc.
I belong to a small, county-based unit.
Not sure what you mean by “unorthodox” views, but there are some who believe every conspiracy theory that comes down the pike. Is that what you mean?
Unorganized Militia of Champaign County.
I’ll just say “a handful.” (I know I said I’d answer “anything,” but I would rather not divulge the precise number of members.)
Bascially, yes.
About how much of your militia is constituted of ex-military? What do you guys do at meetings?
I can’t really blame people for stereotyping militia members. Their only source of information has been the media and leftists groups (e.g. the ADL), both of which want to portray us as gun-toting nut cases. So the only way to “deal” with these people is to simply demonstrate that we’re not a bunch of nut jobs. This is accomplished a variety of ways, e.g. performing community service and simply talking with people. We’re also conscious of our conduct in public, and emphasize courteousness and respect toward all people.
I would estimate over 20% are ex-military.
We really don’t have “meetings” per say, wherein a bunch of guys sit around and “shoot-the-bull.” Our meetings are more accurately defined as training sessions. Training sessions normally consist of approximately 50% classroom training and 50% field training. The field training allows participants to demonstrate “in the field” what the learned during the classroom session.
Community service is nice but do you think that arming and training to fight some nebulous “they” might be considered a little odd?
How will you decide when the time has come to actually start shooting at people?
5.56, 7.62x39, or .308?
Why do you feel the UN is so powerful when it relies so much on the permission of other, many times squabling, nations?
Wouldnt it be smart to avoid diplomatic isolation and join the squable?
just how paranoid are you?
Not at all. Freedom is not free.
Simple – when “they” start shooting. The militia is strictly defensive, and thus we never initiate conflict. We respond to threats.
7.62 x 51 (.308) is what I train with.