It’s an all email edition of Bearing Arms’ Cam & Co. today, and we’re taking on everything from the recent muster of the unorganized militia in several Virginia counties to the push by some residents of eastern Oregon to leave the state and become a part of the state of Idaho, as well as a little rant from yours truly about the latest attempt by Democrats in the Virginia legislature to punish those opposed to their gun control agenda.

Several hundred Virginians recently turned out in Bedford County after a call to muster the unorganized militia was posted on Facebook and in locations throughout the county.

“This is the next natural progression from sanctuary status,” said organizer Wes Gardner. “We’ve been lobbying. We’ve been making phone calls. We’ve been sending emails.”

They said the purpose of the muster is to preserve tranquility, peace, and civil order by organizing volunteers in the event that a militia is required to defend the “rights and liberties of the citizens” of Bedford County and Campbell County.

“The militia is another avenue to help protect the counties and the citizens in that county because what we’re seeing right now is a violation of the basic of civil rights,” said Gardner.

Gardner says the militia will work with the Sheriff’s office and the Board of Supervisors to protect Bedford County citizens.

“So if there were any kind of natural disasters, the militia would be another organized body that they can call at a moment’s notice to actually help serve and benefit the community,” said Gardner.

As we look at how the Second Amendment Sanctuary movement will grow and mature in Virginia and around the country, I wouldn’t be shocked to see more activity like this. Go check out the entire story from WSET-TV in Virginia and you’ll see that the organizers and attendees don’t come across as an unhinged mob, but concerned citizens looking to protect their rights and their local communities. It’s a pretty fair and evenhanded report, and they even publicized an upcoming militia muster in Campbell County, Virginia on the 29th.

As for the push in eastern Oregon to become a part of Idaho, it does remind me a little bit of the offer by West Virginia legislators to annex counties in Virginia that vote to leave the state. Basically, rural residents of eastern Oregon feel they have much more in common with the state of Idaho than residents of Portland, and they want to redraw the borders so that they feel like they have representation in their state government.

The group known as “Greater Idaho” is seeking to create a ballot proposal in Oregon that would secede 19 counties located in the east and merge them with its neighbors.

Mike McCarter, one of the petitioners, said in a Facebook post that he and his neighbors are unhappy with the state legislature’s work that threatens “our industries, our wallet, our gun rights, and our values.”

“We tried voting those legislators out but rural Oregon is outnumbered and our voices are now ignored. This is our last resort,” he said.

Greater Idaho says that two counties, Josephine and Douglas, have so far accepted the ballot proposal. The group is also seeking to add rural areas in California to the new state boundaries.

Over the last couple of years, there have been campaigns by some Californians and Oregon residents to secede and form the State of Jefferson, but those efforts failed. Priscilla Southwell, a professor of political science at the University of Oregon, said Greater Idaho’s measure, will likely end up as a symbolic move.

“I think seceding will be unlikely that it will get enough signatures let alone pass,” she said.

I suspect Southwell is right, but you know, I’m willing to consider the idea that we could alleviate at least some of our current political tensions by redrawing state borders. If it were to happen, however, I think we’d really need to look at redrawing all of the current state borders to better reflect current political and cultural sentiment. Of course, even if you redraw every state’s borders, we’re still living in a nation that is roughly divided 50-50 on any number of important and fundamental questions, so I don’t know how much it would truly help in the long run. Still, if I could live in West Virginia without having to sell my house and pack up my family, just by being annexed, I probably would.

Since it’s a long shot, my plan for now is to stay in Virginia and fight like hell to retake the state in 2021, as well as working as hard as possible to get as many pro-2A Congresscritters as possible elected this November in the state.