The Second Amendment reads, “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the people’s right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” We who oppose gun control tend to recognize that nothing in the introductory clause negates that whole “shall not be infringed” bit.

A lot of other people focus on that first part, arguing that “well regulated” means the same thing today as it did back then. Some will even say that if you want a gun, you should join a militia.

Now, they mean the National Guard, but they failed to be specific and that’s on them.

In Michigan, though, gun control laws seem to be rolling steadily down the line. One town, however, is in that “shall not be infringed” camp and declared itself a Second Amendment sanctuary. They also formed their own “well regulated militia” to try and make it stick.

A township in Muskegon County has declared itself a Second Amendment sanctuary and created a maximally inclusive militia in hopes of protecting citizens’ constitutional rights from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s gun control laws.

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Holton Township Clerk Malinda Pego, who is also co-chair of the Michigan GOP, introduced a motion at a Nov. 14 board meeting declaring the township a Second Amendment sanctuary.

The resolution stated that “the Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of our nation; … the Second Amendment to the Constitution states, ‘A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed’; and … the United States Supreme Court has affirmed that the right of an individual to ‘keep and bear arms,’ as protected under the Second Amendment, is incorporated by the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment against the states.”

Noting that board members will remain steadfast in upholding the the U.S. and Michigan constitutions and oppose “any law that would unconstitutionally restrict the rights of the citizens of Holton Township to keep and bear arms,” the resolution called for the technical establishment of a militia.

Accordingly, all legal residents with primary residency within the township who are 18 or older, capable of passing a federal firearms background check, and desire to do so can become a member of the Holton Township Militia simply by indicating their intent “on open media or to friends and or family or by letter.”

Now, this amuses me to no end. I really wish every town had their own town militia and routinely trained in the use of arms and on tactics to defend their community from hostile actions.

The flip side is that I can see the other side making a great deal of hay out of this, especially in light of the kidnapping plot against Whitmer. Of course, the feds were also involved in the actual plotting up to their eyeballs, but that’s not going to matter to many in the media.

Regardless, Holton Township wants to respect the Second Amendment and they want to make absolutely sure that Whitmer doesn’t get too froggy about trampling on those rights regardless of what the township wants.