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"Of course, if our borders were secure, the point would be moot. It's a lot easier to secure 6000 miles of border than literally hundreds of thousands of potential targets. The fact that this isn't being done should raise some red flags."

The problem is that there are not enough police to do it all - borders, reservoirs, refineries, canals, power grids, dams, nuclear power generators, et al.

The reason this law change is needed is so the National Guard will not have to walk around with empty rifles, as they now have to do because of the posse comitatus law.

If you think a guardsman standing behind a "federalized" (read: "unionized") airport screener, in plain view with a rifle (unloaded or not) is any more than fluf to make the 80 year old ladies feel secure before their strip search then you are truly clueless..

The problem is that there are not enough police to do it all - borders, reservoirs, refineries, canals, power grids, dams, nuclear power generators, et al.

There are not enough US troops to secure all these potential targets either (unless they are brought home from most of the countries they are in-- something the current administration is unwilling to do). So they will have to be foreign troops.

The reason this law change is needed is so the National Guard will not have to walk around with empty rifles, as they now have to do because of the posse comitatus law.

It is my understanding that the Guard had loaded weapons at most airports, when they were there.

There are not enough people in the US to protect all 'vulnerable' bits, let alone police/military personel - this is particularly true if the attackers are willing to die to perform their mission. In all seriousness, adding the entirety of the military to the police forces would do essentially nothing for security. This is particularly true since the role of the military and the role of the police differ vastly.

In response to your other comment, the National Guard did not walk around with unloaded weapons (at least not around here) - one of them managed to shoot himself while attempting to clear his sidearm after a patrol.

-SV

The reason this law change is needed is so the National Guard will not have to walk around with empty rifles, as they now have to do because of the posse comitatus law.

It has now been pointed out to you that there already exist several ways (under current law) to call in the military when needed, ergo; Presidential directive or by the directive of any states Governor, not to mention the role the FBI and Federal Marshalls of the DOJ play in such situations, and yet you insist that we need to 'deputize the military' in the name of 'national security'. You yourself say there are not enough police, military etc. to even patrol our borders adequately yet you persist in the notion that giving arrest and shoot to kill authority to the National Guard and other military would somehow make safe the thousands of dams, thousands of power sources like utility companies and refineries, tens of thousands of bridges and hundreds of thousands of miles of highways, to name just a very few potential targets. That logic just doesn't add up.

The terrorists can count you as a victim. You're apparently terrified. Frankly four hi-jacked planes and five or less envelopes with a little anthrax, which may have come from some nut case not a terrorist, hasn't got me ready to shave my head get a tattoo and a micro-chip yet.