A state lawmaker has proposed an amendment to legislation increasing the penalty for people involved in unauthorized militias or domestic-terror groups.
"There has been a great deal of attention given to increasing the penalties for those involved in gang activity, and while I agree that gangs are terrorizing many communities, they are not the only such threat in our state," said state Rep. Mike Shelton, D-Oklahoma City.
"In Oklahoma we have seen the damage done by militia fanatics and the Ku Klux Klan has a long history of violence and domestic terrorism. Involvement in those types of organizations should be treated no differently than participation in an urban gang," he said.
And there you have it: a Democrat says if you call yourself part of the militia you're just like the KKK. And I'm sure he'll be happy to tell you that McVeigh was a 'militia fanatic', etc., "We have to DO SOMETHING!" and so forth.
I did some digging, and found this on the subject of the militia in Oklahoma state law:
§44-41. Composition of Militia - Classes.
The Militia of the State of Oklahoma shall be divided into three (3) classes: The National Guard, the Oklahoma State Guard, and the Unorganized Militia.
23. "State military forces" means the National Guard of the state, as defined in Title 32, United States Code, the organized naval militia of the state, and any other military force organized under the Constitution and laws of the state to include the unorganized militia (the state defense force when not in a status subjecting them to exclusive jurisdiction under Chapter 47 of Title 10, United States Code).
Now, as the unorganized militia is specifically recognized in state law, I wonder how Rep. Shelton plans to manage this:
Shelton's amendments would extend those penalties to other groups, including the Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and "any independent military organization that is neither recognized nor authorized by the Commander in Chief of the Militia for the State of Oklahoma."
Since the unorganized militia is specifically recognized in state law, what the HELL is this supposed to do, exactly? It has the feel of something thrown together for the purpose of political advantage, not serious law enforcement. I fear this is so open-ended it could be used to define almost anybody who speaks or acts in a way the Rep. dislikes as a 'unrecognized/unauthorized militia member'.
Clown politicians; they're everywhere.
2 comments:
I think the argument could be made that, while each member of an organized "militia" group might be a part of the unorganized militia, the group itself, if not authorized by the CinC of the Militia, is in competition with the state militia, not a part of it.
I agree with you that this is political grandstanding...as Uncle would say: What the politicians do instead of something.
Furthermore, such a law would be unenforceable and would immediately fall under Constitutional challenges.
Are they saying that citizens don't have the right to peaceably assemble if they identify themselves as a militia?
So, if I change the name of my organization from "Oklahoma Old Farts Militia" to the "Oklahoma Old Farts Patriotic Review and Military Re-Enactors Guild" am I within the bounds of the new law?
Do the groups have to endorse violent overthrow of the government or other subversive behaviors to be illegal? If the law doesn't restrict itself to organizations that identify themselves as militias, what is the criteria? How much you wanna bet that, no matter how carefully they try to craft the criteria (and I doubt they'll be very careful at all), such subversive organizations as the Boy Scouts and 4H will fall under them?
Sounds like something that is destined to die a prompt and uneventful death in committee to me.
Sounds like a sure Charlie Foxtrot waiting to happen. Maybe you could call yourselves the "Okie militaria collectors and shooting club" to get around their BS, but as we've seen, a law enacted by the good guys will be used for the most evil by the next guys in office.
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