"A Restatement of First Principles: What is the purpose of the armed citizenry?"

The Coach's Team ^ | 9/11/16 | Mike Vanderboegh

[Oldpuppymax]

In 2012, Mike Vanderboegh of the Sipsey Street Irregulars website put into clear and concise language the true purpose of an armed citizenry as conceived by the Founders of our nation and the authors of its Constitution. What follows is the article Vanderboegh posted. Read it, save it and pass it along to your friends.

By Mike Vanderboegh

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. Declaration of Independence, July 4th, 1776

This is for those who are a bit unclear about who we are and what we're supposed to be about, at least as the Founders saw it:

We are the armed citizenry of the united States. The Founders expected future generations to be like them, both armed and citizens. These concepts were, to them, inseparable. Only a free man may possess arms...

[immadashell]

The lesson of genocide as a natural product of government against an unarmed citizenry is not well known.

[imardmd1]

later

[Big Red Badger]

Thanks for posting this,
I miss Mike.

One Hell of a Smuggler!

[elcid1970]

No confiscation without registration.

Eat it, Australia.

[Oldpuppymax]

“The lesson of genocide as a natural product of government against an unarmed citizenry is not well known.”

About 30 million Russians learned the lesson from Joe Stalin.

There’s also liable to be one Hell of a Second American Revolution if Hillary is elected and places another Marxist on the Supreme Court. Gun confiscation upon her Court unconstitutionally overturning the 2nd Amendment will get it started.

[Big Red Badger]

Vanderbough

[bunkerhill7]

Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne defines “militia” explicitly in 1777, leaving zero doubts to its meaning in 1777 after the Battle of Bennington Aug 16, 1777 :

“The great bulk of the country is undoubtedly with the Congress, in principle and zeal; and their measures are executed with a Secrecy and dispatch that are not to be equaled. Wherever the king`s forces point, militia, to the amount of three or four thousand assemble in twenty-four hours; they bring with them their substance etc., the alarm over, they return to their farms. The Hampshire Grants [Vermont], in particular, a country unpeopled and almost unknown in the last war, now abounds in the most active and most rebellious race on the continent, and hangs like a gathering storm upon my left.”

-General John Burgoyne, “A State of the Expedition from Canada, as laid before the House of Commons, by Lieutenant-General Burgoyne, and Verified by Evidence; with a Collection of Authentic Documents, and an Addition of Many Circumstances Which were Prevented from Appearing before the House by the Prorogation of Parliament.
(London: J. Almon, 1780) xxv.

[bunkerhill7]

General John Stark defines “militia” in 1809
‘On August 16, [1777] a motley collection of militia led by John Stark... [Battle of Bennington]
In 1809, Stark, aged 81, declined an invitation to return to Bennington, but sent a letter that was widely republished in newspapers. Referring to his “men that had not learned the art of submission, nor been trained in the art of war,” Stark closed his letter with the famous postscript,
“Live free or die; Death is not the greatest of evils.”’
Wallomsack Review