[justshutupandtakeit]

We are not speaking of self defense but national defense.

[Wm Bach]

The national defense is strong only so long as the citizenry is considered part of the militia. The moment the citizen/warrior mentalitly is traded in favour of a professional mercenary class, then the republic is lost. I submit that, with the almost complete federalization of the National Guard we are almost at that point - a ponderous empire with a temporary-full-time-permanent police presence in Antiochs the world over.