How Charlottesville May Change the Debate Over Armed Militias and Open Carry

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

https://www.thetrace.org/2017/08/charlottesville-may-change-debate-armed-militias-open-carry/

 

As white nationalists squared off against counter-protesters and antifascists in Charlottesville on Saturday, a large group of heavily armed gunmen sought, for a time, to keep the peace.

Christian Yingling, a militia leader from Pennsylvania, whose 32-man team arrived in the college town bearing loaded assault-style weapons and sidearms, told theWashington Post that his group came to defend free speech and maintain order. “Our mission was to help people exercise their First Amendment rights without being physically assaulted,” he said.

Yingling made it clear that the guns his group carried weren’t just for show: “Anyone who was carrying a long gun was not to have a round in the chamber. Now, our sidearms are generally chambered and ready to go.”

One team of reporters covering the rally observed that militia members did more to quell confrontations in Charlottesville than the city and state police, who are drawing strong criticism for allowing the violence to spiral fatally out of control. But as early as 10 a.m., according to the same dispatch, a group of counter-protesters, “many of them older and gray-haired” was bloodied by a mob of white supremacists undiscouraged by neither the police nor the militias’ presence.

In the interview with the Washington Post, Yingling acknowledged that the situation got out of hand. The deployment, he said “was a resounding success until we were just so drastically outnumbered that we couldn’t stop the craziness. It was nothing short of horrifying.”

Paramilitary groups see their role at marches and demonstrations as defending all attendees.

They say the weapons they carry are meant primarily to keep people in the crowd from getting physical. But they are overwhelmingly white, and often espouse anti-government views. It can be difficult to tell them apart from National Guard or police forces. At the ground level, it can be difficult to ascertain their motives

[CaliCat 3,957]

I am sure that's the scenario that Madison had in mind, when he crafted the verbiage of the 2nd amendment.