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STATE SECURITY: A CONSTITUTIONAL SOLUTION
 
PROBLEM 
There are gaps in Florida’s security. The U.S. Department
of Homeland Security is supposed to handle part of the matter,but it has repeatedly demonstrated incompetence. Thisincompetence is exemplified in its handling of hurricanesKatrina
1
and Sandy,
2
its practice of hiring thousands of TSAagents without background checks,
3
etc. The Armed Forces
 — 
 including the National Guard
 — 
are supposed to provide securityas well, but much of our military is deployed or stationedaround the world,
4
rather than at home where it could deal with adirect and immediate threat to our security. Even the parts ofthe Military stationed in Florida could be sent elsewhere just
1
Tom Foreman, “A Disturbing View from Inside FEMA,” www.cnn.com,
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/17/katrina.response/ (accessedNovember 24, 2012).
 
2
Chuck Norris, “The Horrors of FEMA Disaster ‘relief’; the Gloryof Private Efforts,” http://www.humanevents.com,
http://www.humanevents.com/2012/11/20/chuck-norris-the-horrors-of-fema-disaster-relief-the-glory-of-private-efforts/ (accessedNovember 27, 2012).
 
3
“
Not on my watch”: 50 Failures of TSA’s Transportation Security 
Officers
, 112th Cong., 2d sess., 2012, H. Doc., 55.
 
4
Defense Manpower Data Center, “Active Duty Military Personnel
Strengths by Regional Area
and by Country (309a),”
http://www.globalsecurity.org,http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/2011/hst1103.pdf(accessed November 24, 2012).
 
 
2
when our State needs them most. The police
 — 
whether Federal,State, or local
 — 
do not provide adequate security, either. Bydesign, theirs is mainly a reactive role, consisting generallyof analyzing the crime scene, and capturing the criminal.
 
SOLUTION
The solution for Florida’s security is revitalization of
the Constitutional State Militia in Florida. This would be
similar in some respects to the ‘State Defense Forces’ of about
twenty other States.
5
However, State Defense Forces are createdunder the Constitutional provision that States may raise troopswith
Congress’s consent.
6
The Militia is also not the same as theNational Guard, which is created by the Congressional authorityto raise armies.
7
State Militias antedate
8
and are recognized(not created) by the Constitution.
9
Historically, the institutionof the Militia, i.e. a citizenry armed and organized for
5
“FAQ,” http://statedefenseforce.com,
http://statedefenseforce.com/database/about-the-sdf/faq/(accessed November 24, 2012).
 
6
U.S. Constitution, art. 1, sec. 10, cl. 3.
 
7
Army National Guard, “Legal Basis of the National Guard,”
http://www.arng.army.mil,http://www.arng.army.mil/aboutus/history/Pages/ConstitutionalCharteroftheGuard.aspx (accessed November 24, 2012).
 
8
Jerry Cooper,
The Rise of the National Guard: The Evolution of the American Militia
, ed. Mark Grimsley and Peter Maslowski(Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1997), 1.
 
9
U.S. Constitution, art. 1, sec. 8, cl. 15.
 
 
3
collective defense, dates to the Roman Republic, the Greekpolis, and even earlier.
10
Ancient Israel had a similar system.
11
 
Congress is authorized to call forth the Militia for threepurposes: to enforce the laws, to repel invasions, and tosuppress insurrections.
12
It is obvious from the nature of itsduties that the Militia must have firearms. This is alsoimplicit in the Second Amendment. Although Congress may callforth the Militia, each Militia is a government institution ofits State.
13
Each State can call forth its own Militia.
14
While
Congress is instructed “to provide for organizing, arming, and
disciplining the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as
may be employed in the Service of the United States,”
15
the
10
Gary Hart,
The Minuteman: Restoring an Army of the People
(NewYork: Free Press, 1998), 77-84.
 
11
Numbers 1:2, I Chronicles 21:5 and II Samuel 24:9, Exodus 32:26-28, Nehemiah 4:8-21
 
12
U.S. Constitution, art. 1, sec. 8, cl. 15.
 
13
Edwin Vieira Jr. “'THE MILITIA OF THE SEVERAL STATES' GUARANTEETHE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS: Part 2 of 8,”
http://newswithviews.com,http://newswithviews.com/Vieira/edwin17.htm (accessed November25, 2012).
 
14
Edwin Vieira Jr. “'THE MILITIA OF THE SEVERAL STATES' GUARANTEETHE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS: Part 3 of 8,”
http://newswithviews.com,http://newswithviews.com/Vieira/edwin18.htm (accessed November25, 2012).
 
15
U.S. Constitution, art. 1, sec. 8, cl. 16.
 
Notes
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