Martial Law is the suspension of the Constitution and automatically makes those who attempt to institute it an enemy. As Jeff Head said, They who announce "Martial Law" and those who stand with them are our enemies for they have attempted to overthrow the Constitution.
Jeff, I am one of the millions who will do my part to see my enemy dispatched, post haste.
So... if there is a major emergency in some region of the U.S.-- say, the detonation of a nuclear weapon-- and the national guard is called to duty in the area, and lacking any other remaining government infrastructure in the area (becuase they're all DEAD) the national guard is ordered to assume control, in order for there to be *some* kind of orderly leadership in an otherwise chaotic situation.
This would be, in fact, a state of martial law. The power to order this is quite within the constitution and the powers of the President as commander in chief. It would also be arguably absolutely necessary in order to regain some sense of order when the standing government of a region is destroyed.
Are you actually arguing that these soldiers called to such duty should be shot? That instead of restoring order to a destroyed region of the country we should instead opt for a lawless and anarchic wasteland? Is that what this is about?
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
The U.S. government exists only because the delegates of the sovereign people of the several sovereign states contracted, via the U.S. Constitution, for the federal government to exist, and the purpose and duties of the U.S. government are outlined in that same document.
If, for any reason, the U.S. Constitution is declared or rendered invalid, the federal government ceases to exist as a legal entity. All those people running around trying to tell the people what to do and where to go, will be no more valid than any other self-possessed band of thugs, regardless of their armament.
The people are the sovereigns in this nation, and no legal authority exists without the consent of the people.
They would be like employees who, after quitting or being fired, attempted to take over and run someone elses's company.
I'm aware that this is not what they teach in the government schools these days, but it is the gospel truth to the 80 million or so Americans who will make the difference.