virginiatuck
Regular Member
imported post
I apologize if this is off-topic. If there's a forum more suited for this type of question, please let me know. It is relevant to the right to keep and bear arms, but not specifically or necessarily in the form of open-carry.
Let's start here:
Code of Virginia, Title 44, Chapter 1, Section 54.12:
As I read the last paragraph that begins "Members of the Virginia State Defense Force [VDF] shall not be armed with firearms [...]", I thought of the Virginia Bill of Rights.
Constitution of Virginia, Article I, Section 13:
Do the people that make up the VDF thus have the right to keep and bear arms without infringement? By all accounts the VDF is a militia composed of the body of the people.
Code of Virginia, Title 44, Chapter 1, Section 1:
So is § 44-54.12 unconstitutional or is it somehow actually upholding the constitution?
I think an order of not being "armed with firearms during the performance of training duty or state active duty" issued by those in command, Governor of Virginia (Commander-in-Chief), Adjutant General of Virginia, and Commanding General, is one thing, and whether that is unconstitutional is debatable; but a law that forbids it "except under circumstances and in instances authorized by the Governor" is, in my opinion, blatantly unconstitutional.
If anyone disagrees, I would like to hear from you. Please explain why you think or know that it is or is not.
Thanks.
I apologize if this is off-topic. If there's a forum more suited for this type of question, please let me know. It is relevant to the right to keep and bear arms, but not specifically or necessarily in the form of open-carry.
Let's start here:
Code of Virginia, Title 44, Chapter 1, Section 54.12:
44-54.12. Arms, equipment and facilities.
The Virginia State Defense Force, to the extent authorized by the Governor and funded by the General Assembly, shall be equipped as needed for training and for state active duty. The Adjutant General, by regulation or otherwise, may authorize the use of privately owned real and personal property if deemed in the best interest of the Commonwealth.
To the extent permitted by federal law and contracts with the federal government or localities and to the extent that space is available, the Adjutant General in his discretion may authorize the use of armories and other facilities of the National Guard, other state facilities under his control, and all or portions of privately owned facilities under contract for the storage and maintenance of arms, equipment and supplies of the Virginia State Defense Force and for the assembly, drill, training and instruction of its members.
Members of the Virginia State Defense Force shall not be armed with firearms during the performance of training duty or state active duty, except under circumstances and in instances authorized by the Governor.
As I read the last paragraph that begins "Members of the Virginia State Defense Force [VDF] shall not be armed with firearms [...]", I thought of the Virginia Bill of Rights.
Constitution of Virginia, Article I, Section 13:
Section 13. Militia; standing armies; military subordinate to civil power.
That a well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state, therefore, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.
Do the people that make up the VDF thus have the right to keep and bear arms without infringement? By all accounts the VDF is a militia composed of the body of the people.
Code of Virginia, Title 44, Chapter 1, Section 1:
44-1. Composition of militia.
The militia of the Commonwealth of Virginia shall consist of all able-bodied citizens of this Commonwealth and all other able-bodied persons resident in this Commonwealth who have declared their intention to become citizens of the United States, who are at least sixteen years of age and, except as hereinafter provided, not more than fifty-five years of age. The militia shall be divided into four classes, the National Guard, which includes the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard, the Virginia State Defense Force, the naval militia, and the unorganized militia.
So is § 44-54.12 unconstitutional or is it somehow actually upholding the constitution?
I think an order of not being "armed with firearms during the performance of training duty or state active duty" issued by those in command, Governor of Virginia (Commander-in-Chief), Adjutant General of Virginia, and Commanding General, is one thing, and whether that is unconstitutional is debatable; but a law that forbids it "except under circumstances and in instances authorized by the Governor" is, in my opinion, blatantly unconstitutional.
If anyone disagrees, I would like to hear from you. Please explain why you think or know that it is or is not.
Thanks.