Sunday, December 22, 2019

KGTP Newsletter - 22 December 2019 - The Militia Question


Fellow Members of the King George TEA Party:

This Newsletter is not your usual news "data dump."  Yes, it is vvvveeeerrrryyy long.  Please read it in its entirety.

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a most prosperous and Happy New Year.  I trust that everyone will spend this joyous time reveling in family get-togethers, great food, and remembrance for why we celebrate this very special birthday - even after more than 2,000 years.  And as for prosperity, all you need to do is look to the rockin' economy to see that America is greatly benefiting from President Trump's policies.

The Second Amendment Sanctuary (2AS) movement has reached significant milestones.  At present, there are 85 counties, 10 cities, and 17 towns that have adopted some form of a 2AS resolution.  That is 85 out of the 95 counties in the Commonwealth (89.5%) or 112 out of Virginia's 132 localities (84.8%).  As much as Governor Northam has poo-pooed this success as reported in recent news articles, it is quite evident that this is a grassroots-driven leave-our-guns-alone mandate if there ever was one.  The push for 2AS resolutions is quickly drawing to a close… so now everyone is asking, "What do we do next?"

Which brings me to the issue of militias.

I am unaware of any other state within the USA that specifies that a militia to be stood up and officially sanctioned as is outlined in the Code of Virginia.  For the big picture description, the Virginia militia consists of three parts: the National Guard, the Virginia Defense Force, and the "unorganized militia."  Specifically, I draw your attention to the following website and the hyperlinks that pertain in the Virginia Code:


Everyone is pretty aware of the Army and Air National Guard and their mission.  Most people, however, are quite unaware of the Virginia Defense Force (VDF) and are even less aware of what constitutes the "unorganized militia."

Information about the VDF can be found here (http://vdf.virginia.gov) but one only really needs to look at the VDF Units sub-page to recognize what their core competency is.  Bottom line is that the only active VDF unit, the 1st Regiment, is focused on providing civil support security (specifically for facilities) and communications capabilities to the Virginia National Guard.  Period.

There really isn't much within the Virginia Code to address the unorganized militia.  The intent, as specified in Virginia Code, is to activate and incorporate the unorganized militia into the VDF.  While unorganized in nature, they are specified to augment the VDF's two missions (facility security and communications support) in support of the National Guard.  Period.

But the VDF's and the unorganized militia's aspects are NOT what is at issue.  Governor Northam's underling, Democrat Representative Donald McEachin, is the one that recently made some inflammatory comments about calling out the Virginia National Guard to impose and enforce future gun control legislation.  His comments were made specifically in response to the success of the 2AS movement throughout Virginia to thwart those proposals.  From Newsweek:

VIRGINIA STATE REPRESENTATIVE SUGGESTS NATIONAL GUARD BE CALLED TO FORCE ENFORCEMENT OF NEW GUN LEGISLATION

"I'm not the governor," McEachin said, "but the governor may have to nationalize the National Guard to enforce the law. That's his call, because I don't know how serious these counties are and how severe the violations of law will be. But that's obviously an option he has."

I suspect you, Dear Reader, thought that Governor Northam cannot do such a thing.  Well, there is a passage within the Virginia Code that McEachin probably had in mind as justification for saying so.  Recognize that the Army and Air Force National Guard is one component of the Virginia militia when reading the below:

§ 44-75.1. Militia state active duty.
A. The Governor or his designee may call forth the militia or any part thereof to state active duty for service in any of the following circumstances:
2. When any combination of persons becomes so powerful as to obstruct the execution of laws in any part of this Commonwealth;

So the conclusion to be taken is that yes, a Virginia Governor **can** mobilize the National Guard to enforce laws in accordance with Virginia Code.  The question on the table, and one that Governor Northam really should carefully consider before making, is whether or not he **should** do such a thing.  My assessment is that if Governor Northam were to mobilize the Virginia National Guard to enforce his proposed gun legislation he (and his fellow Democrats) would be immediately viewed as the totalitarian that he has so far seemed to be.  Political consequences for the Democrat Party would result.  While the majority of Virginians did vote for the Democrat Party to lead both the House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate, it did NOT automatically provide authorization to impose radical, unconstitutional gun control legislation.  Doing so would not go over well with the vast majority of We The People Of Virginia, Republicans and Democrats alike, as illustrated in the 2AS graphic below.

Many Virginia patriots, both within the TEA Party movement as well as the many other pro-America and pro-Constitution groups throughout the Commonwealth, have taken McEachin's comments and Northam's policy proposals as overt threats to our nation.  This is true especially when you recognize that what is at issue is supporting and defending the Constitution against all enemies, foreign or domestic.  For many, Northam, McEachin, and the rest of the gun control-supporters are domestic enemies because they have overtly and directly threatened to implement legislation that subverts the Constitution and are doing so over the objection of We The People.

In response there is much talk about mobilizing a militia.  Iconically, Tazwell county's Board of Supervisors even passed a resolution emphasizing the right to establish a militia - a militia that seems to be outside what is specified in the Virginia Code.  This weekend I had a chat with someone while visiting Big Dog Outfitters and the issue of militias came up.  Also, several other people have e-mailed me or come to me to talk about establishing a militia.  As far as I can tell, this is definitely a trending subject and is the "what's next" thought now that the 2AS movement has reached its goal.

Virginia county passes resolution emphasizing 'right to a militia'

Militia development is not, however, a TEA Party core competency.  Additionally, and important for the survival of the TEA Party as a movement, is the need for the TEA Party to remain independent from the militia movement.  When the TEA Party first began in 2009 we were immediately smeared with claims of being militant militia members.  To overcome this impression we have consistently demonstrated not to be so.  Furthermore, there has been significant value in non-militia activities such as information collection, organization, analysis, and dissemination (e.g., weekly Newsletters and monthly meetings) throughout America that has supported education and mobilization for the ballot box.  Because the TEA Party has demonstrated restraint we are able to transcend party politics and focus on the fundamental issues associated with Constitutionality.  Our efforts have been successful, i.e., many TEA Party groups throughout America have been active over the past decade, and collaboratively we gave rise to the resurgence of the very powerful America First nationalism we see today.

Separately, however, I see great value in keeping an internal check on national power (especially corruption within) just as much as I do in defending our country against external adversaries.  As such, I see great value in developing defense-focused militia groups throughout the Commonwealth (as well as the rest of America) to accomplish just that.  America's enemies, both internal and external, should fear We The People and maintaining the capability to call for arms is precisely why our Founding Fathers crafted and included the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights (no, it was not for hunting game or competitive sport).  Furthermore, every American should desire to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and should also feel free to do so outside of a wayward Virginia legislature's constraints if the nation's Constitution is threatened.

When any service member enlists into the military they take an oath **for life** and do so outside the bounds of many constraints - personal, religious, political, legislative, foreign, or domestic.  This is the perspective of the Oath Keepers organization (see https://oathkeepers.org) and is, in my opinion, well-founded.  Another patriot group that is committed to supporting and defending the Constitution of the United States is the III Percenters (https://www.thethreepercenters.org).  They, too, prepare to stand ready to defend the Constitution if the situation is called for.  Turning desire into action, however, MUST be done with forethought.  My recommendation for anyone that is interested in a "what's next" beyond the TEA Party's current efforts would be to research organizations such as Oath Keepers and III Percenters in order to make a personal decision to affiliate with them.

The most important point that I can make, however, is that now is not the time for militant action.  In a twisted version of Chess, Governor Northam voiced his desire to impose unconstitutional gun control legislation upon the Virginia citizenry.  In response, We The People Of Virginia have collaborated, organized, and mobilized ourselves to petition our local governments (town, city, county) and achieved, in almost 90% of the cases, local government (i.e., local law enforcement) protection from that very same proposed unconstitutional Second Amendment legislation.  The next Chess move will be by the Virginia Delegates and Senators who are supposed to be, by design, responsive to their constituents.  It is thus incumbent upon you, my fellow TEA Party member, to consider attending Lobby Day on 20 January 2020 in Richmond and speaking out against those gun control proposals BEFORE the Delegates cast their votes.  The most information about this opportunity is available via the VDCL, found at: https://vcdl.org.

In the meantime there are other asymmetric vectors We The People Of Virginia can pursue.  One effort that is making its way through the e-mail threads is the Virginia Constitutional Conservative's effort to recall Governor Northam (https://virginiaconservatives.net/recall-radical-ralph-northam).  The steps required to accomplish that are noted in the below article (but please do read the final two paragraphs):

What Would It Take To Recall Governor Ralph Northam?

Another would be to petition the federal government to take the steps to pass an executive order that recognizes the common, almost ubiquitous AR-15-type rifle -and it's 30 round standard magazine- as a Constitutionally protected firearm under the Second Amendment.  Such a petition could be crafted and posted at the site below.  It would be then incumbent upon We The People Of Virginia to gain enough signatures to gain visibility and action.  Doing so would certainly thwart the gun-grabbers that want to, or have already, declared it an "assault weapon" based upon its appearance and subject them to state regulation.

Petition the White House on the Issues that Matter to You

As always, I welcome any questions or comments you may have.


James Hull
King George TEA Party
King George, Virginia




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