{"id":99593,"date":"2024-01-26T17:12:03","date_gmt":"2024-01-26T23:12:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=99593"},"modified":"2024-01-26T17:12:03","modified_gmt":"2024-01-26T23:12:03","slug":"99593","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=99593","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

OPINION: The true intent of the Democrats\u2019 anti-militia bill is to infringe on firearm training<\/a>
\nThis bill paints a target on the back of every law-abiding gun owner.<\/em><\/p>\n

As a law-abiding citizen of this great country, I can form my own militia if I so choose, appoint myself colonel, enlist my friends as privates or PFCs, and we can run around the woods until we all keel over from heatstroke or heart attacks \u2014 whatever comes first. It\u2019s all perfectly legal, at least for now.<\/p>\n

We have the right to criticize our government. We can sit around the campfire at our secret militia base nursing our sore muscles and fire ant bites and talk about how Joe walks like a penguin, or how it would take Kamala a good 20 minutes just to tell you you\u2019re on fire. It\u2019s all perfectly legal and protected speech, at least for now.<\/p>\n

We have the right to train with our firearms. We can draw from a holster, shoot while moving, practice CQB and send as much lead downrange as our bank accounts will allow. It\u2019s all perfectly legal conduct, at least for now.<\/p>\n

However, a new bill making its way through Congress known as the\u00a0\u201cPreventing Private Paramilitary Activity Act of 2024,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0would make all of this illegal or at least suspicious enough to draw scrutiny from the feds. More importantly, it would paint a target on the back of every single American gun owner, which is the actual intent of this ill-conceived and extremely unconstitutional legislation.<\/p>\n

To be clear, if Joe Biden ever signs this bill, the second he puts down his crayon the feds will flock to local gun ranges in numbers that will make it nearly impossible for actual members to find a place just to park. This bill would give them license to investigate anyone who trains with a gun in order to determine whether they\u2019re a militia member \u2014 and don\u2019t think for a second that they won\u2019t.<\/p>\n

The FBI recently investigated law-abiding Americans whose sole transgression was shopping at a Cabela\u2019s or a DICK\u2019s Sporting Goods. Evidently, the FBI, the country\u2019s so-called premier law enforcement agency, wasn\u2019t aware DICK\u2019s stopped selling guns and ammunition eons ago. Nowadays, the most dangerous thing on their shelves is a pickleball paddle.<\/p>\n

When the Framers wrote the Second Amendment, militia membership was not only encouraged, it was required. All able-bodied men were instructed to own a firearm, powder and shot and to keep them clean and serviceable in the event they were ever needed. Now, under the guise that it might be militia-related, a handful of lawmakers are trying to criminalize firearm training \u2014 especially anything tactical. In my humble opinion, it is just another step toward their ultimate goal of total civilian disarmament.<\/p>\n

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The bill<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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H.R.6981, the Preventing Private Paramilitary Activity Act of 2024<\/a>, was sponsored by Congressman Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland who apparently has never taken a constitutional law class.<\/p>\n

Raskin and co-sponsor Senator Edward J. Markey, (D-Mass.), said in a\u00a0press release<\/a>\u00a0they introduced the bill to \u201chold individuals liable who directly engage in certain types of conduct, including intimidating state and local officials, interfering with government proceedings, pretending to be law enforcement, and violating people\u2019s constitutional rights, while armed and acting as part of a private paramilitary organization.\u201d (As an aside, there are already plenty of federal statutes on the books to address these types of crimes.)<\/p>\n

The two lawmakers, of course, raised the specter of Jan. 6th<\/sup>\u00a0to help sell their legislation.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrivate military organizations pose a threat not only to national security, but they also present a public safety problem that extends beyond any single state; for example, private paramilitary actors like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers traveled across state lines on January 6th<\/sup>,\u201d they said in the joint\u00a0press release<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The bill defines a Private Military Organization \u2014 the authors\u2019 new term for militia \u2014 as \u201cany group of 3 or more persons associating under a command structure for the purpose of functioning in public or training to function in public as a combat, combat support, law enforcement, or security services unit.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to this overly broad definition, the private security teams established by churches, synagogues and mosques across the country could be classified as militias, as could dozens of other groups.<\/p>\n

Like its definitions, the conduct the bill proscribes is overly broad too. The legislation defines \u201cdangerous conduct\u201d as:<\/p>\n