State Security--A Constitutional Solution

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STATE SECURITY: A CONSTITUTIONAL SOLUTION

PROBLEM

There are gaps in Floridas security. The U.S. Department

of Homeland Security is supposed to handle part of the matter,

but it has repeatedly demonstrated incompetence. This

incompetence is exemplified in its handling of hurricanes

Katrina1 and Sandy,2 its practice of hiring thousands of TSA

agents without background checks,3 etc. The Armed Forces

including the National Guardare supposed to provide security

as well, but much of our military is deployed or stationed

around the world,4 rather than at home where it could deal with a

direct and immediate threat to our security. Even the parts of

the Military stationed in Florida could be sent elsewhere just

1Tom Foreman, A Disturbing View from Inside FEMA, www.cnn.com,

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/17/katrina.response/ (accessedNovember 24, 2012).

2Chuck Norris, The Horrors of FEMA Disaster relief; the Glory

of Private Efforts, http://www.humanevents.com,

http://www.humanevents.com/2012/11/20/chuck-norris-the-horrors-of-fema-disaster-relief-the-glory-of-private-efforts/ (accessedNovember 27, 2012).

3Not on my watch: 50 Failures of TSAs Transportation Security

Officers, 112th Cong., 2d sess., 2012, H. Doc., 55.

4Defense Manpower Data Center, Active Duty Military Personnel

Strengths by Regional Area and by Country (309a),http://www.globalsecurity.org,http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/2011/hst1103.pdf(accessed November 24, 2012).


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when our State needs them most. The policewhether Federal,

State, or localdo not provide adequate security, either. By

design, theirs is mainly a reactive role, consisting generally

of analyzing the crime scene, and capturing the criminal.

SOLUTION

The solution for Floridas security is revitalization of

the Constitutional State Militia in Florida. This would be

similar in some respects to the State Defense Forces of about

twenty other States.5 However, State Defense Forces are created

under the Constitutional provision that States may raise troops

with Congresss consent.6 The Militia is also not the same as the

National Guard, which is created by the Congressional authority

to raise armies.7 State Militias antedate8 and are recognized

(not created) by the Constitution.9 Historically, the institution

of the Militia, i.e. a citizenry armed and organized for

5FAQ, http://statedefenseforce.com,

http://statedefenseforce.com/database/about-the-sdf/faq/(accessed November 24, 2012).

6U.S. Constitution, art. 1, sec. 10, cl. 3.

7Army National Guard, Legal Basis of the National Guard,

http://www.arng.army.mil,

http://www.arng.army.mil/aboutus/history/Pages/ConstitutionalCharteroftheGuard.aspx (accessed November 24, 2012).

8Jerry Cooper, The Rise of the National Guard: The Evolution ofthe American Militia, ed. Mark Grimsley and Peter Maslowski(Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1997), 1.



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collective defense, dates to the Roman Republic, the Greek

polis, and even earlier.10 Ancient Israel had a similar system.11

Congress is authorized to call forth the Militia for three

purposes: to enforce the laws, to repel invasions, and to

suppress insurrections.12 It is obvious from the nature of its

duties that the Militia must have firearms. This is also

implicit in the Second Amendment. Although Congress may call

forth the Militia, each Militia is a government institution of

its State.13 Each State can call forth its own Militia.14 While

Congress is instructed to provide for organizing, arming, and

disciplining the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as

may be employed in the Service of the United States,15 the

10Gary Hart, The Minuteman: Restoring an Army of the People (NewYork: Free Press, 1998), 77-84.

11Numbers 1:2, I Chronicles 21:5 and II Samuel 24:9, Exodus 32:26-28, Nehemiah 4:8-21


13Edwin Vieira Jr. 'THE MILITIA OF THE SEVERAL STATES' GUARANTEE

THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS: Part 2 of 8,

http://newswithviews.com,http://newswithviews.com/Vieira/edwin17.htm (accessed November25, 2012).

14Edwin Vieira Jr. 'THE MILITIA OF THE SEVERAL STATES' GUARANTEE

THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS: Part 3 of 8,

http://newswithviews.com,http://newswithviews.com/Vieira/edwin18.htm (accessed November25, 2012).



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Statesin the absence of Congressional provisionretain the

right and the responsibility to provide for organizing, arming,

and disciplining the Militia.

For twenty-first century Florida, there are a variety of

proposals related to the Militia that can be drawn upon in the

revitalization process. Gary Hart, in his book The Minuteman:

Restoring an Army of the People proposes a national military

system with a renewed focus on the citizen-soldier as a viable

successor to the current military system that is still designed

to combat Cold War era threats. The element of Harts proposal

that is valuable in the revitalization of Floridas Militia is

the universal or near-universal requirement of Militia training

in early adulthood as a means of teaching civic responsibility

as well as making our State more secure. Hart presents the idea

that a State composed of citizen-soldiers is better prepared to

handle an invasionand is less likely to be invadedthan a

State that is otherwise peopled.

Dr. Edwin Vieira proposes a specific set of

Constitutionally-based responsibilities as well as a generic

framework for contriving the most efficient method of fulfilling

those responsibilities.16 The Militia responsibilities he

16Edwin Vieira Jr., The Nation in Arms, rev. ed., vol. 1 ofConstitutional Homeland Security: A Call for Americans to

Revitalize the Militia of the Several States (Ashland, Ohio:Bookmasters, 2007), 75-150.


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suggests include dealing with invasions, terrorist attacks,

insurrections, natural and man-made disasters, socioeconomic

collapse, criminal commerce, corruption, tyranny, combinations

or variations of the above, and others. Dr. Vieira recommends

para-police training to enable the Militia to enforce the laws

in the absence of, or complementary and supplementary to,

regular State and Local police.17 He further recommends

paramilitary training to empower the Militia to work in

conjunction with, or complementary or supplementary to, the

Armed Forces, the National Guard, the Coast Guard, and the

Border Patrol.18 The generic framework Dr. Vieira recommends for

determining an efficient Militia system is basically grassroots

research and experimentation. This suggestion harks back to an

official practice (institutionalized nationwide in the Militia

Act of 1792) of the 18th and 19th centuries, by which States

commissioned private, militaristic citizen groups into the

official Militia.19

Mack Tanner recommends a viable system that lacks only

official sanction to comply with the historical and

Constitutional standards of the Militia. Tanners informal

17Vieira, The Nation in Arms, 78.

18Ibid.

19Cooper, 15-20.


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defense alliance, which basically consists of an armed and

proactive neighborhood watch group (applicable and adaptable to

public transit systems, apartment buildings and complexes,

office buildings, etc.), would fit the bill for a Constitutional

Militia on a day-to-day basis.20 Tanner suggests that an

organization of this kind would be well prepared for larger-

scale societal breakdowns, such as natural disasters, wars, and

socioeconomic collapse.21

DEBATE

There is little mainstream debate about revitalization of

the Constitutional Militia, primarily because there is little

(or nothing) that is commonly known or correctly understood

about the institution. Most debate about militias involves

false militiasnot government institutions.22 Other relevant

discussions erroneously assume that the National Guard is the

Militia.23 Those who advocate a revitalization of the Militia in

one form or another do not spend their time debating one

20Mack Tanner, The Armed Citizen Solution to Crime in the Streets:So Many Criminals, so Few Bullets (Boulder, Colorado: PaladinPress, 1995), 107-15.

21

Ibid,150-151.

22Edwin Vieira Jr. True Vs. False Militia and Why the DifferenceMatters, newswithviews.com,

http://www.newswithviews.com/Vieira/edwin61.htm (accessedNovember 26, 2012).

23Cooper, pageNr.


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another, but rather focus on promoting their idea. The idea is

not yet mainstream enough for its proponents to quibble with

each other over the details.

There is debate about the Militia movement. This movement

involves thousands of armed and organized groups of citizens

with a variety of ideological motivations, generally having in

common a distrust of the Government; these have been called neo-

militias.24Some contend that these false militias or neo-

militias act as a rightful defense against . . . threats to

Americans security and liberty.25 Some even go so far as to say

that we need these groups to defend against governmental or

international tyranny.26 On the other side of the debate are

those who are alarmed that the popularity of the Militia

movement is growing despite dangerous beliefs within the

movement.27 Others worry about the potential for violence within

24Margeurite Driessen, Private Organizations and the Militia

Status: They Don't Make Militias Like They Used To, Brigham

Young University Law Review1998, no. 1 (March 1998): 1-33,http://ezproxy.pcci.edu:2054/login.aspx?direct=true&db=afh&AN=549105&site=ehost-live (accessed November 27, 2012).

25Norman Olson, Citizen Militias Defend Liberty, in The Militia

Movement,ed. Charles P. Cozic (San Diego: Greenhaven Press,1997), 10.

26Lyn Nofziger, Militias Protect Against AuthoritarianGovernment, in The Militia Movement, ed. Charles P. Cozic (SanDiego: Greenhaven Press, 1997), 19.

27Scott McLemee, The Militia Movement is Dangerous, in The

Militia Movement, ed. Charles P. Cozic (San Diego: Greenhaven


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the Militia movement,28or even damage to democracy that they

suppose the movement may cause.29 One author perceptively noted

that the Militia movement is simply misguided, in that it moves

public opinion toward fearing the exercise of liberty, and in

that it is based on a misunderstanding of the Militias

historical and Constitutional nature.30

DISCUSSION

I recommend that Florida citizens determine by careful

research and analysis how the revitalized Florida State Militia

should be organized, armed, and disciplined. Governor Scott and

the Florida Legislature should publicly support and endorse

grassroots research along these lines. Certainly relevant

theoretical works should be consulted, analyzed, and tested for

practicality.

Local organizations that devise workable systems for

disaster management, for aiding police in preventing crime, or

paramilitary groups organized to aid in repelling invasions and

Press, 1997), 50.

28Chip Berlet and Matthew N. Lyons, Citizen Militias Can BecomeViolent, in The Militia Movement, ed. Charles P. Cozic (San

Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1997), 59-66.

29Daniel Junas, Citizen Militias Threaten Democracy, in The

Militia Movement, ed. Charles P. Cozic (San Diego: GreenhavenPress, 1997), 67-77.

30Karen L. MacNutt, The Militia Movement is Misguided, in The

Militia Movement, ed. Charles P. Cozic (San Diego: GreenhavenPress, 1997), 78-86.


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suppressing insurrections should be commissioned by the State

of Florida with carefully defined rights, powers, and

responsibilities.

To encourage Florida citizens to arm themselves (a vital

element of the Militia) and to offset the costs of grassroots

research, all Florida taxes on the sale of firearms, ammunition,

and firearms accessories should be repealed. The Florida

Firearms Freedom Act should be reintroduced and made law.

My preliminary recommendations for a revitalized Militia

system in Florida would include having each individual in

multiple Militia units. This approach covers security in each

area of life. For example, a man might be in his neighborhood

Militia unit while is at home, in a public transportation

Militia unit on his way to work, and an office building (or

College) Militia unit while at work.

Patrick Henry famously said, The great object is, that

every man be armed . . . Every one who is able may have a gun.31

Sir William Blackstone wrote, In a land of liberty it is

extremely dangerous to make a distinct order of the profession

of arms.32 In the United States, the Constitutional Militia is

31Patrick Henry, Speech Before the Virginia Ratifying Convention

(speech, Richmond Theatre, Richmond, VA, June 14, 1788),http://www.constitution.org/rc/rat_va_12.htm#henry-07 (accessedNovember 27, 2012).

32William Blackstone, Book the First. of the Rights of Persons.


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the institution designed to ensure that every man be armed, and

that the profession of arms is not confined to a distinct

order.

The Militia is based in the responsibility to be armed.

This is a Biblical responsibility. God expected his people to be

armed [Exodus 32:27And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORDGod of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side.] and to know

how to fight [Judges 3: 1-2 The LORD left [enemy nations] to

prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known

all the wars of Canaan; Only that the generations of the

children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least

such as before knew nothing thereof.]. Christ instructed us to

arm ourselves. [Luke 22:36 Then said he unto them . . . he that

hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.] This

responsibility concerns protecting yourself, your family, and

those near you. For a society, this becomes a responsibility to

organize and armindividually and collectivelyfor the

purpose of general defense, security, and disaster management.

CHAPTER XIII.: OF THE MILITARY AND MARITIME STATES, in Books Iand II,

Vol. 1 ofCommentaries On the Laws of England in Four

Books. Notes Selected from the Editions of Archibold, Christian,

Coleridge, Chitty, Stewart, Kerr, and Others, Barron Fields

Analysis, and Additional Notes, and a Life of the Author by

George Sharswood. in Two Volumes, ed. George Sharswood (1753;repr., Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co., 1893), 395,http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=2140&chapter=198677&layout=html&Itemid=27 (accessedOctober 27, 2012).
http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Exodus-32-27/http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Judges-3-1/http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Judges-3-1/http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Judges-3-1/http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Judges-3-1/http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Judges-3-1/http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Judges-3-1/http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Judges-3-1/http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Judges-3-1/http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Judges-3-1/http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Judges-3-1/http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Exodus-32-27/


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SOURCES CITED

Army National Guard. Legal Basis of the National Guard.

http://www.arng.army.mil.

http://www.arng.army.mil/aboutus/history/Pages/ConstitutionalCharteroftheGuard.aspx (accessed November 24, 2012).

Berlet, Chip and Matthew N. Lyons. Citizen Militias Can BecomeViolent. In The Militia Movement, edited by Charles P.Cozic, 59-66. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1997.

Blackstone, William. Book the First. of the Rights of Persons.

CHAPTER XIII: OF THE MILITARY AND MARITIME STATES. In

Books I and II. Vol. 1 of Commentaries On the Laws ofEngland in Four Books. Notes Selected from the Editions ofArchibold, Christian, Coleridge, Chitty, Stewart, Kerr, andOthers, Barron Fields Analysis, and Additional Notes, and

a Life of the Author by George Sharswood. in Two Volumes.1753, edited by George Sharswood, 395. 2 vols. Edited byGeorge Sharswood. Reprint, Philadelphia: J.B. LippincottCo., 1893.http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=2140&chapter=198677&layout=html&Itemid=27(accessed October 27, 2012).

Cooper, Jerry. The Rise of the National Guard: The Evolution ofthe American Militia. Edited by Mark Grimsley and Peter

Maslowski. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press,1997.

Defense Manpower Data Center. Active Duty Military PersonnelStrengths by Regional Area and by Country (309a).

http://www.globalsecurity.org.http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/2011/hst1103.pdf (accessed November 24, 2012).

Driessen, Margeurite A. Private Organizations and the MilitiaStatus: They Don't Make Militias Like They Used To.

Brigham Young University Law Review1998, no. 1 (March1998): 1-33.http://ezproxy.pcci.edu:2054/login.aspx?direct=true&db=afh&AN=549105&site=ehost-live (accessed October 27, 2012).

FAQ. http://statedefenseforce.com.

http://statedefenseforce.com/database/about-the-sdf/faq/(accessed November 24, 2012).


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Foreman, Tom. A Disturbing View from Inside FEMA. www.cnn.com.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/17/katrina.response/(accessed November 24, 2012).

Hart, Gary.The Minuteman: Restoring an Army of the People

. NewYork: Free Press, 1998.

Henry, Patrick. Speech Before the Virginia Ratifying

Convention. Speech, Richmond Theatre, Richmond, Virginia,June 14, 1788.http://www.constitution.org/rc/rat_va_12.htm#henry-07(accessed November 27, 2012).

Junas, Daniel. Citizen Militias Threaten Democracy. In The

Militia Movement, edited by Charles P. Cozic, 67-77. SanDiego: Greenhaven Press, 1997.

MacNutt, Karen L. The Militia Movement is Misguided. In The


McLemee, Scott. The Militia Movement is Dangerous. In The


Nofziger, Lyn. Militias Protect Against Authoritarian

Government. In The Militia Movement, edited by Charles P.

Cozic, 19-23. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1997.

Norris, Chuck. The Horrors of FEMA Disaster relief; the Glory

of Private Efforts. http://www.humanevents.com.

http://www.humanevents.com/2012/11/20/chuck-norris-the-horrors-of-fema-disaster-relief-the-glory-of-private-efforts/ (accessed November 27, 2012).

Olson, Norman. Citizen Militias Defend Liberty. In The Militia

Movement, edited by Charles P. Cozic, 10-18. San Diego:Greenhaven Press, 1997.

Tanner, Mack. The Armed Citizen Solution to Crime On theStreets: So Many Criminals, so Few Bullets. Boulder,Colorado: Paladin Press, 1995.

U.S. Congress. House Not on my watch: 50 Failures of TSAsTransportation Security Officers. 112th Cong., 2d sess.,2012. H. Doc.


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Vieira, Edwin Jr. 'THE MILITIA OF THE SEVERAL STATES' GUARANTEE

THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS: Part 2 of 8.

http://newswithviews.com.http://newswithviews.com/Vieira/edwin17.htm (accessed

November 25, 2012).

Vieira, Edwin Jr. 'THE MILITIA OF THE SEVERAL STATES' GUARANTEE

THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS: Part 3 of 8.

http://newswithviews.com.http://newswithviews.com/Vieira/edwin18.htm (accessedNovember 25, 2012).

Vieira, Edwin Jr. The Nation in Arms. Sixth. Rev. ed. Vol. 1 ofConstitutional Homeland Security: A Call for Americans to

Revitalize the Militia of the Several States. Ashland,Ohio: Bookmasters, 2007.

Vieira, Edwin Jr. True vs. False Militia and Why the DifferenceMatters. newswithviews.com.

http://www.newswithviews.com/Vieira/edwin61.htm (accessedNovember 26, 2012).

2012 Elijah J. HenryAll rights reserved.

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