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Good morning Democrats!
On this date 236 years ago William Livingston, who represented the State of New Jersey at the Constitutional Convention, presented the report of what was called the Committee of Eleven. Although the report that was presented was, after some discussion, tabled later that day, several key elements of the report were ultimately incorporated into the Constitution that was being developed by the delegates in Philadelphia. One of those key elements dealt with the concept of “militias”. At that point, the federal government did not have a standing army of any sort, with the new nation relying on state militias. Some delegates to the Convention favored a large standing army while others insisted on keeping local militias that would be under the command of a small cadre of federal officers ONLY in time of war.
The compromise that was included in the report of the Committee of Eleven, and ultimately incorporated into the Constitution, was that the state militias would remain the primary military force in the new nation, but they would be under additional control, primarily for training purposes, by the central government’s standing army. Militias would be organized and sanctioned by the individual states, but with the requirement that they would be trained and supervised by the federal army. This compromise led to the incorporation of Article I, Section 8, Clause 12 of the Constitution that limited appropriations to the federal army to two years and ultimately to the 2nd Amendment guaranteeing the “right to keep and bear arms”, primarily in support of “well-regulated”, which in those days meant well-trained, militias.
The U.S. Supreme Court has rightly held that the 2nd Amendment also applies to ordinary citizens as essential in their efforts to protect themselves, their families, and their property. But self-proclaimed paramilitary “militias”, without state recognition and without training and supervision by the U.S. Army, have no standing under the Constitution. They are NOT militias. They are really nothing more than armed gangs and represent a dangerous threat to our constitutional government and our American way of life.
Dennis
Chair, DPTC
[email protected]
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