Do you have a group of friends and acquantences that are moral, law abiding people and good shooters? People that, if needed, you could link up with during an emergency when there is NO law and order, and securely move to a relatively safe area where you could set up a long term defensive position until the crisis is over? Or are you depending on .gov to handle that for you?
My opinion is that people SHOULD train and organize this way as a safety net. The "militia" was a group formed ad hoc of everyday citizens to perform military type service and defend the community against the British who were the lawful government and authority at the time. Since today's .gov, LE, and media would never look on such a thing with favor today, and we do not want to overthrow anybody, we can define our "group" mission this way: not to defend our community in an emergency, but to ensure the rule of law, order, and safety specifically for our loved ones in those times when the government ceases to function effectively.
Anyone who complains that those at the Superdome didn't have this mindset......duh!! They were mainly wards of the structure that failed!
In a disaster on the scale of Katrina, the ability to work as a team could enable you to function, survive, and safely evacuate a fairly large number of loved ones despite the complete breakdown of the social and legal fabrics of society. Katrina should be a big wake up call for people. Keep in mind, while those like us evacuated NO before the storm arrived, not every type of catastrophe will allow advance warning!
As in almost ANYTHING, better to HAVE the ability and not need it, than to NEED it and NOT HAVE IT!
Even some people I have met from this board think I am a little strange for thinking this way. This is not something that Katrina brought to mind, I have always felt this way. What say you?
Poll coming.