@dontreportme @opethminded @SeanCasten That's really not an immutable quality though; when.properly organized, it can be effective enough to be treated seriously. Blair Mountain was the one time the US was scared enough by the citizen militia that it dropped bombs; the Panthers scared them enough to lead to the 1968 GCA. Even if an all out war wouldn't go well for the citizens, historical example suggests it's nowhere near hopeless.
Also, less an accusation and more a guess.

@dontreportme @opethminded @SeanCasten If you take defending the nation as upholding the status quo political and economic structures (which, I assume you're a lib so I'd say so), then I can see that position, I suppose.

@AlliFlowers @SeanCasten I'd recommend at least considering these points, even if you end up disagreeing with them: https://bitbang.social/@lepidotos/115963676755030294
Ultimately I'd respect the anti-gun position more if it didn't try to use a false air of legitimacy when there's a perfectly legitimate route for it in advocating for the repeal of the amendment rather than contorting it into a pretzel.
And true, mine isn't great either, but I did get it cleaned a bit recently and that's been nice.

@opethminded @SeanCasten No it isn't the NG is the organized (as in organized by the state, not as in orderly) militia. The government wouldn't need to grant itself the right to arm the NG because that's more or less the definition of what a government is, a group with enough legitimacy to hold the monopoly of power. Even if it did, it wouldn't use the phrase "the people" when writing the permission letter to the state governments.

@AlliFlowers @SeanCasten What they are is the organized (as in organized by the state governnent, not as in "orderly") militia, in contrast to the unorganized militia (the citizenry at a minimum). I don't have it on hand but there's a cookbook from about the same time that includes in its lengthy 18th century subtitle the term "well regulated kitchen", as an example of the term definitely not referring to legal specification but to refer to being in good working order.