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Constitutional Role of the Militia

Constitutional "Homeland Security" is "[a] well regulated Militia" based upon the right of the people to keep and bear Arms"—Second Amendment.

Last Updated on January 16, 2023 by Constitutional Militia

The Constitutional Role of the Militia

The constitutional role of the State’s Militia is to fulfill three explicit duties—which are performed at the State level outside the jurisdiction of the General Government, and also within the jurisdiction of Congress and the President when “employed in the service of the United States”.[2] So the Militia serve a dual constitutional role at the State and national level, which is to

“execute the Laws of the Union” (police function)
“suppress Insurrections” (para-military function)
“repel Invasions” (military function) [3]

Constitutionally the Militia have a national role to perform within the federal system, but it’s a limited one. Congress is given two basic powers with respect to the Militia:

ARTICLE I, SECTION 8, CLAUSE 16—“The Congress shall have Power * * * 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, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress[.]”

The purpose the Founding Fathers had in mind with this power was to provide uniformity among the States because the Militia are institutions of the independent States. The practical reality was that although there was a greet deal of uniformity in the structure of the militia, there was a lack of uniformity in terms of equipment, discipline and training. And to the extent that the militia may be called upon  to cooperate with the Army or the Navy in a military type of situation would create all sorts of logistical problems. So Congress was given the authority to provide for uniformity in the organization, essentially the structural operation of the militia so that the independent States could work together with other States in the Union as well as the regular armed forces domestically if needed.

ARTICLE I, SECTION 8, CLAUSE 15—“The Congress shall have Power * * * To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions[.]”

Congress can call forth “the Militia of the several States”, the self-same “well regulated Militia” that the Second Amendment reinforces as “necessary to the security of a free State”—from where they already exist—the States. Congress having already “provide[d] 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”[1], will have the Militia readily available as the constitutional first responders for securing not just the individual States, but the United States as a whole.

The Constitution doesn’t talk about calling forth the Army or the Navy, because those are the “Land and Naval Forces of the United States.”[2] So they are always subject to control by Congress and the President at all times for all legitimate purposes. But the militia are not. They are subject to being called forth from the states for only three purposes:

• “execute the Laws of the Union” (police function)
• “suppress Insurrections” (para-military function)
• “repel Invasions” (military) [3]

That is the very definition of a constitutional “Homeland Security Structure” based upon “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms”.[4]

Footnotes:

1.) U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 16.

2.) U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 14.

3.) U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 15.

4.) U.S. Const. amend. II.

1.) U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 15.

2.) U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 16.

3.) Id. at 1.

Constitutional Militia
Constitutional Militiahttps://constitutionalmilitia.org
Constitutional Militia are State government institutions, thoroughly civilian in character. It is by the efforts of "the Militia of the several States", that the "security of a free State" can be preserved throughout the Union.
Militia Structure

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