Militia organized

Amendment that sees it as guaranteeing only a general right of the people to bear arms, through an official militia organization. 

Fedayeen Saddam—Iraq s paramilitary organization, which was said to be equivalent to the Nazis SS. The militia was loyal to Saddam Hussein and was responsible for using brutality on civilians who were not loyal to the policies of Saddam. They did not dress in uniform. 

Ever since then, gun control advocates have argued that the Second Amendment thus applies only to bearing arms as part of an organized militia, which today is the National Guard ... 

The military code of the state of Illinois specifies It shall not be lawful for any body of men whatever, other than the regular organized volunteer militia of this State, and the troops of the United States, to associate themselves together as a military company or organization, or to drill or parade with arms in any city, or town, of this State, without the license of the Governor thereof... ... 

The State made the usual argument that the Second Amendment was not applicable to the states. It also argued that the prohibition of private militias was not in conflict with the power of Congress to oversee the organization of state militias. 

This decision gained some recent relevance with the formation of many private militias in the 1980s. Gun control advocates see Presser as denying any constitutional protection to such organizations, as well as reaffirming that the Second Amendment is not a bar to state or local gun regulations. 

The Militia Act is passed. It recognizes both an unorganized ( enrolled ) militia and an organized militia. 

The General Court of Massachusetts, January Session 1784, provided for the organization and government of the Militia. It directed that the Train Band should contain all able bodied men, from sixteen to forty years of age, and the Alarm List, all other men under sixty years of age,. .. Also, That every non-commissioned officer and private soldier of the said militia not under the control of parents, masters or guardians, and being of sufficient ability therefor in the judgment of the Selectmen of the town in which he shall dwell, shall equip himself, and be constantly provided with a good fire arm, c. 

It further provided for organization and control of the Militia and directed that All free male persons between the ages of eighteen and fifty years, with certain exceptions, shall be inrolled or formed into companies. There shall be a private muster of every company once in two months. ... 

The government s brief thereafter makes essentially two legal arguments. First, it contends that the right secured by the Second Amendment is only one which exists where the arms are borne in the militia or some other military organization provided for by law and intended for the protection of the state. Id. at 15. This, in essence, is the sophisticated collective rights model. 

The arc of the story is the journey of the main character to disillusionment in the very cause in which he enlisted. The story begins with an aura of camaraderie in a particular militia unit. The unit is democratic, its members principled and brave. They succeed in combat. Slowly, however, the unit is fractured by orders from Moscow—a requirement to obey a central command (implied to be controlled by Moscow). Dissension among the group leads some to join the organized army, others to remain in the militia. The final confrontation occurs when Republican soldiers, commanded by a former member of the militia, order the men of the militia unit to surrender their arms and its leaders to submit to arrest and prosecution. The confrontation ends with the death of a female member of the militia. The group is disbanded, and the main character becomes a man hunted by the very forces who represent the cause he... 

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