By Michael Bielawski
A law passed in Vermont last year dealing with banning militias is now being closely replicated at the national level.
The Vermont bill S.3 was sponsored by Sen. Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden and was signed by Governor Phil Scott in 2023. The bill states, “A person shall not own or operate a paramilitary training camp or facility in the State of Vermont. A person who violates this subsection shall be imprisoned for not more than one year or fined not more than $1,000.00, or both.”
Its national counterpart is called the Preventing Private Paramilitary Activity Act. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., is the sponsor.
Its text reads, “It shall be unlawful to knowingly, while acting as part of or on behalf of a private paramilitary organization and armed with a firearm, explosive or incendiary device, or other dangerous weapon publically patrol, drill, or engage in techniques capable of causing bodily injury or death; ‘‘(2) interfere with, interrupt, or attempt to interfere with or interrupt government operations or a government proceeding; ‘‘(3) interfere with or intimidate another person in that person’s exercise of any right under the Constitution of the United States; ‘‘(4) assume the functions of a law enforcement officer, peace officer, or public official, whether or not acting under color of law, and thereby assert authority or purport to assert authority over another person without the consent of that person; or ‘‘(5) train to engage in any activity described.
Markey issued a press release introducing the bill. It states, “The prohibition would hold individuals liable who directly engage in certain types of conduct, including intimidating state and local officials, interfering with government proceedings, pretending to be law enforcement, and violating people’s constitutional rights, while armed and acting as part of a private paramilitary organization.”
Bill Moore, firearms policy analyst for the Vermont Traditions Coalition, testified to Vermont lawmakers in 2023 regarding S. 3. He cautioned that this must not put lawful activist groups under threat of prosecution.
He gave some examples from during the Civil Rights era. He said, “At the same time we must recognize that the possible and likely outcome of a statutory scheme as proposed is eerily familiar to historians of Civil Rights and 20th century law enforcement. That is a history of abuse against unpopular political groups such as the Black Panthers, SDS [Students for a Democratic Society] and leaders like Dr. King and Panthers leader Fred Hampton who was assassinated while being served a Search Warrant at 4:00 AM.”
Vermont has had a training ground for shooters called Slate Ridge in West Pawlet. The group has asserted they have a right to do their training, but some of the local community and media have accused them as being unlawful, threatening and a nuisance.
Moore also asserts that for a militia to be legally legitimate there must be some accountability to civilian government.
“Groups of armed individuals that engage in paramilitary activity or law enforcement functions without being called forth by a governor or the federal government and without reporting to any government authority are acting as unauthorized private Militias,” he wrote.
Some pundits have accused Antifa of acting like an unregulated militia. In the past they have shown up at political events in masks and carrying firearms, including in one case to defend a drag-queen event intended for young children.
In history militias that were not tied to a civilian government have been used to grab political power. In 1930s Germany the Schutzstaffel or “SS’‘ was used by the Nazi party to intimidate political opposition and was implicated in political assassinations during the Night of the Long Knives in 1934.
The U.S. Constitution maintains that militias are a right and responsibility of the citizenry. Article I, Section 8, Clause 16: states that Congress shall have power “to provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress.”
The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle
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Categories: Legislation
the question is/// what happens when your entire government is running criminal operations/// where is the justice///
Vermont was founded by a Militia, states in our constitution “ a well armed militia” meaning we the people. I hope that the people who are behind this ridiculous bill, never NEED the help of a militia. Are they only banning citizens of the US? or does this mean the terrorist training camps on our soil in states like NY, will be closed and the terrorists deported as they should have been years ago?
“ Under the National Defense Act of 1916,5 the militia, which had been an almost purely state institution, was brought under the control of the federal government.”
Citizens rights are outside and beyond the bounds of government control. The 2 amendment is not to be infringed upon.
The 1916 National Defense Act is unconstitutional and must be treated as such.
Make note of the names on this Bill and who voted for it’s passage for this is the clearest indication they are all part/followers of the Nazi political class that where snuck into this Nation during the late 40’s and Early 50’s by the CIA under the Operation Paper Clip; way over 10,000 Nazi War Criminals of which many were Scienists. they have spread to the point where they control major parts of our Government. Vermont is one of their Main Camps
If there were Milita in each and every Country is Vermont they would be taken care off; for good..
Do your own research and learn about Operation Paper Clip. I’m fairly sure most Vermonters don’t even know there is a War Going ON in the States right now and it’s called a ” Information War; what is it? it’s psychological Warfare and the Main Stream Media has for decades been in the forefront of the disinformation..
Wake up and start thinking.. One last thing The Current Governor was Recognized by the CCP “China Communist Party ” As a highly like Governor.. Great Honor, Correct?
Yes! I learned about Operation Paperclip after contracting Lyme Disease in 2011. My research led me down that rabbit hole.
https://www.gaia.com/article/weaponized-ticks-is-lyme-disease-an-escaped-government-bioweapon
Yes Kathy, Lyme disease is a direct result of our leaders’ complicity in harboring Nazi war criminals.
We won’t get even half of what Epstein was involved with beyond the court documentation regarding the young girls and boys. The scope and depth is beyond comprehension – it is why we are in the fight of our lives – these people are truly sick and evil!
Aren’t we all so proud how Vermont has become another petri dish to safely try out all this left wing nonsense before it gets pushed out on the national stage. It reminds me of what was done on the right by the Bush Justice Department to test out the idea of RICO-style property seizures for minor drug violations 30 years ago, when our US Attorney, George Terwilliger went after family’s homes for growing weed. This is the Uniparty at work to turn us into a banana republic. The First Amendment’s right of free association is under threat here, complements of the paranoid Mom’s Demand Action and other Bloomberg surrogates.
How soon we forget. As a commentator predicted last year: “Make no mistake. This law will develop a case of mission creep in successive legislatures as progressive gun grabbers in Montpellier find new and exciting definitions for “legal activity” and “civil disorder.” ( Steve MacDonald, GraniteGrok)
My question is who is really grabbing political power? What is the real motive behind removing guns from law abiding citizens? It surely enables and encourages the United Nations 2030 goals with full cooperation of the Biden administration. An armed citizenry should give them pause.
The authoritarian left has it’s own definitions (and corresponding double standards) for what constitutes an:
-assault weapon
-insurrection
-militia activities
Lest we forget: Authoritarian government from either the left or the right side of the metaphorical aisle has the potential to destroy our democracy.
I personally fear both.
But it isn’t the “right’ that takes away your means to resist.
This is going to be a very, very bad year folks. It will not end well. And this is just another attempt to ensure it doesn’t end well for us… we, the people.
And all those left/lib/dem/prog/Marxists who come here on VDC and call us names… it just shows us what they really think about us and how scared they are. I don’t align with any political party because all politicians are liars, cheats and thieves. If you seek power, you should never be given power. My humble thoughts.
We had a terrible boating accident this fall, and all of our weapons and ammo fell in the deep end of the lake. It was a terrible thing.
Re: We had a terrible boating accident this fall, and all of our weapons and ammo fell in the deep end of the lake. It was a terrible thing.
It’s happening to a lot of people. LOL
Actually there are a few good ones in our State House trying to serve Vermonters. They are just WAY outnumbered.
Clearly our government is afraid of us. Especially now that their actions of over the past 3 years are slowly being exposed. The next step is the dem party demanding Martial Law because it’s so unsafe especially when our justice system is a revolving door and allows this anarchy, chaos and civil unrest to go wild.
Tyrants need to be dealt with accordingly.
I couldn’t agree more. Neither could Thomas Jefferson – just asking him by reading the part of a letter he wrote: “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with blood of patriots and tyrants.”
The enemy is WITHIN!
If one has not gotten their ducks in a row for what’s on the horizon, you better get on it! Wikiwiki!
I’d like to posit a scenario… I didn’t come up with it.
Create a divisive society.
Cause civil unrest.
Declare martial law.
No elections under martial law.
Further civil unrest develops.
Society breaks down.
Foreign “aid” and troops arrive to “help” our civil war/unrest.
We then become a territory of this foreign country under their rules.
Just a scenario. Be really scary if it came to pass though, right?
Odds are the scenario you describe will happen. It is going to get quite interesting over the course of the next few months.
Sounds like Orwell’s 1984. It was written as a cautionary tale of a dystopian future, but has been adopted by the left as an instruction manual…
Considering the number of military age Chinese men gathering in camps near the Darien Gap, I’m more inclined to think of a CCP invasion rather then foreign “aid” following civil unrest.
This kind of sums it up, Vermont bill S.3 was sponsored by Sen. Phil Baruth, a rabid anti gun ” progressive ” from Chittenden County, and signed by Vermont’s very own
” RINO” Governor Phil Scott !!……………… what a pathetic so-called leader of a state,
he’s even scared of the progressive legislators and S.3 proves it !!
Wake up people, you have the power to vote these feckless fools out and that’s all
they’ll understand……….. they want Vermont to be California a liberal cesspool !!
We are coming for your guns.
We are coming for your children.
We are coming for your POTUS & all who challenge us.
We are coming for you.
What is it that the of, by, and for the people do not understand???
Muslims, gays, homeless, drug addicts, refugees, leftists, you want the government to grind these people into the dirt, you cheer on state violence at home and abroad, but everything you encourage daddy government to do to those people will be done to you and your children eventually as the wealth keeps flowing up to the top and more of you fall out the bottom. Being treated like the out-group by the police state is your biggest fear, but you gladly forged the knife yourself.
vermont can not be placed under martial law/// cut the crap/// read the vermont constitution/// covid scam demic was a test to see how stupid you people are/// hope some of you have got smart by now ///
The party of death has spoken…
A Nation of Sheeple, begets a government of wolves
Progressivism is poisonous to our Constitution. They are now telling us who we can associate with, how we can associate with them, and what kind of activities we can take part in. This is nothing more than the destruction of the Constitution. All of the Progressive states, CT, NY, NJ, MA, RI, IL, CA are all trying to pass the same monkey see monkey do legislation. They are given their marching orders from the globalists, and they are all in lock step with one another.
You can’t take away someone’s right to free speech, freedom of assembly or freedom of religion without first taking away their ability to resist and that is exactly what they are doing, taking away our ability to resist by force of arms. What they are doing is blatantly Unconstitutional and they know it. What the Progressives are doing is fomenting civil war. They better hope it does not come. Only 3% of the colonial population took up arms against England in the Revolutionary War. There are now over 400 million guns in this country what’s 3% come out to. Do the math. We must resist usurpation of the Constitution by any means necessary.
Ronald Reagan: “Under no pretext should arms and ammunition be surrendered; any attempt to disarm the people must be stopped, by force if necessary”.
April 17th, 1775 – British General Gage starts to disarm Boston and on June 17th Gage proclaims that anyone in Boston who has not turned their arms are to be considered enemies of his majesty. On July 6th in Virginia Jefferson and Dickenson draw up the Declaration of Causes of Taking Up Arms and militias start to form. We won the Revolutionary War when those militias came together to form the Continental Army.
Donald L. Cline: “A free citizenry does not ask its governments’ permission to exercise a right. It does not register its exercise of a right. It does not waive any other right, such as the right to privacy, or the right to due process, or the right to be secure from being compelled to waive a right in order to exercise a right, in exchange for permission to exercise a right such as the right to keep and bear arms which government does not have the authority to issue or deny in the first place. It does not permit government to claim the exercise of a right is probable cause, or prima facie evidence, or even a suspicion, of a crime having been committed. It does not discuss, or negotiate, what rights it will or will not exercise with government or with any government functionary. In short, a free citizenry, founded in principles of liberty, does not give up its right to determine what kind of government receives its Consent to Govern. A free citizenry respects, honors, and protects the lawful rights of others, by force of arms, if necessary, else liberty cannot be preserved for anyone. A State government that exercises any power prohibited to it by the Constitution of the United States as amended is by definition a rogue occupation government and criminal regime. Its authority is null and void and no one is bound by any rule of law to obey its prohibited color of law”.
“We are fast approaching the stage of ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission, which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force”. – Ayn Rand
“Defiance, not obedience, is the American’s answer to overbearing authority”. – Ayn Rand
“The only thing that limits the power of our government, is the limit of our obedience”. – Topher Field
And the Eunuch King Philip the 1st. King of Castrati knew full well this is unconstitutional and signed Baruth’s S3 into law. Taking away the very means this country was founded by