Now that the Brady
bill has become the law of the land, does that mean it
has to be obeyed? Certainly, federally licensed firearms
dealers must obey it because they operate under federal
government authority. But what about sheriffs and police
chiefs?
Many sheriffs in
several states have refused to do the background check
mandated by the Brady law. One such sheriff is Ray Nixon
of Lincoln County, Montana. He addressed a meeting of
the unorganized militia in February 1994 at a crowded
meeting in Eureka.
The concern of the
militia was to lawfully reinforce the sheriff in case
the federal government might contemplate another Waco-
or Weaver-type massacre in Lincoln County. Citing the
Militia Act in Title 10 of U.S. Code and the Montana
Posse Law, the members of the unorganized militia
offered themselves to be deputized by the sheriff.
Military service and NRA firearms certification were
considered adequate qualification for membership in the
sheriff's posse.
The Lincoln County
unorganized militia that evening began the process of
forming a lawful force to resist any tyrannical act on
the part of the federal government. This was not a bunch
of vigilantes or a mob that night. This was the militia
of the Second Amendment and of the posse law in Montana.
The Lincoln County
militia had reached the point that the colonial militias
had in 1774 when they began to form and to drill. In
1774, as in 1994, there was still hope of reconciliation
with the growing tyranny of the central government. But
after years of encroachments on their liberties, the
colonists of 1774 and the militiamen of 1994 decided to
be prepared.
Meaning of
Well-Regulated Militia
This helps us understand the now greatly misunderstood
words of the Second Amendment which read: "A
well-regulated militia being necessary for the defense
of a free state, the right of the people to keep and
bear arms shall not be infringed." Opponents of the
individual right to keep and bear arms have greatly
misunderstood the initial clause of the Second
Amendment.
For many in our time, it is inconceivable to think of
anything being well-regulated without a law mandating
the regulation and a bureaucracy to conduct the
regulation. In the 18 century, the word regulation did
not at all require government involvement. The actions
of the American colonists make it plain that a
well-regulated militia was well-rehearsed and
well-drilled without the control of government. Indeed,
the colonial well-regulated militias shot at the King's
policemen (the King's soldiers were acting in the
capacity we now consider a police function, but there
were no police departments then).
When the Reverend Josiah Clark met the British forces
at Lexington on April 19, 1775, he was serving as the
elected commander of his well-regulated militia. He had
well-regulated his men many a Sunday afternoon following
church services.
The British had
made the importation of powder (semi-auto rifles?)
illegal and General Gage had sent his men to confiscate
colonial stockpiles, along with other war material such
as muskets and food stores.
It is interesting
to note that then, as today, the city people were
disarmed first. General Gage had earlier registered
firearms in Boston and then shortly thereafter he
confiscated what he had just registered. He did it in
the name of crime control.
Throughout history the names of tyrants change, but not
their methods.
(Pages ix and x.)
