Linking "gun enthusiasts" to "anti-government militias"

[bayouhazard]

The frequent use (or misuse) of the word “militia” all over the media (radio, TV, newspapers, news websites etc) is a concern.

The founders were fond of militias.

They were distrustful of professional bodies of armed men, such as standing armies. They probably wouldn't like the federal police agencies much either. Calling the Redcoats "police" wouldn't have changed the founders' views on the king's hired guns trying to enforce his gun control.

[LarryH]

Some of those "organizations" began calling themselves "militias" in an attempt to give themselves legitimacy that they don't deserve (IMHO).

[G.A. Heath]

A group can call itself anything it wants to. We could get a group of bikers together, dress them in pink leather, give them a handful of flowers, and call them "The Presidential Protection Core" if we were so inclined. Essentially you can call your unarmed neighborhood watch a militia as they technically meet the definition.

[hirundo82]

Those same gun rights advocates then acted shocked and appalled when the media, which has always had a love/hate relationship with gun owners, focused on the date being the anniversary of America's deadliest act of domestic terrorism, rather than on the date corresponding to a little-celebrated milestone from the American Revolution.

I've never felt the love.

Isn't it ironic that the same people who went around saying "Dissent is patriotic" during the Bush years are now accusing dissenters of sedition and encouraging terrorism? I guess dissent is only patriotic when you side is the one doing the dissenting.