New Year's resolution: Become a 'Militia of One'

The end of the year has arrived, and with it, the time to make New Year's resolutions.  Being far less, er . . . resolute than National Gun Rights Examiner David Codrea, I will not cover nearly as much ground as he did last year, but I will offer this one resolution: become a "Militia of One."  (The Army has moved on from its "Army of One" recruiting slogan, so I figured they wouldn't mind my adaptation.)

What do I mean by that, though?  First, whenever the militia concept is mentioned here at St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner, what's being discussed is not the terrorists or racist "hate groups" that the Brady Campaign's Dennis "What People?" Henigan, or the CSGV's Josh Horwitz, would like the public to associate as synonymous with the term "militia."  We're talking about the Constitutional militia--you know--the kind that is necessary to the security of a free state.

As for the "of One" part, that's an acknowledgment of the impracticality for many people of fitting into their busy lives a regular regimen of structured drilling and training with an organized militia, many of whose members have their own busy lives, thus further complicating scheduling.  Besides, not everyone lives where joining an organized, reputable miliita, such as the Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia featured this spring in a National Public Radio story, is practical.  Health problems, making it difficult to keep up with the training, are another possible obstacle; someone like me, for example, confined to a wheelchair, is unlikely to be of much use to any organized militia.

Still, these difficulties do not have to mean that the only option is to throw up one's hands and abdicate responsibility for one's own and one's family's security and liberty, counting on the government's protection.  An aspiring "Militia of One" who wishes to "well-regulate" himself can, in numerous ways, improve his ability survive a crisis.  Just a few ideas:

• Attend an Appleseed training event, in order to hone one's proficiency in rifle marksmanship, and learn something of the "milita mindset"
• Get formal training in firearms use, whether it be basic firearms safety, if you're a beginner, an armed self-defense course, etc.
• Other kinds of training can be just as important as firearms training--basic first aid being a good example
• Get in shape--the vast majority of us will never be Navy SEAL material, but most of us can become more fit than we are right now, even if it's no more than eating a little smarter, taking regular walks, etc.
• Lay in supplies of storable food, potable water, fuel, etc.--you don't necessarily have to build a "bunker," with enough supplies to keep you alive for months, but the ability to be self-sufficient for just a few days can be a lifesaver in the aftermath of hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, civil disturbance, terrorism--or martial law

This is, of course, a far from exhaustive list, but completing it would put one well on one's way to becoming a "Militia of One," and a "well regulated" one, at that.

See also:

• Militia members are not terrorists
  
• 'To shake their guns in the tyrant's face' gives militia movement history and perspective
  
• New Year's gun rights resolution: Attend an Appleseed
  
• New Year's gun rights resolution: Get formal training
  
• New Year's gun rights resolution: Do all of them
  
• Resisting tyranny: Neither a new idea, nor an invention of the 'gun lobby'
  
• Forcible citizen disarmament advocacy, and the smearing of the militias
  
• Will 'fusion center' accept 'militia enthusiast's' challenge?
  
• CSGV says only the government can protect you from . . . the government