Quote Originally Posted by carl View Post
I guess militia might work if somebody were intent on conquering and occupying the US. That would take a while, probably a long while and there may be time.
Not sure where you are from Carl, but any invasion force would have great difficulty taking on America, National Guard or no National Guard.

Buddhist Packing Bond Pistol Shows American Embrace Of Guns, By Ken Wells - Dec 9, 2011 3:37 PM MT

Natanel is a Buddhist, a self-avowed “spiritual person,” a 53-year-old divorcee who lives alone in a liberal-leaning suburb near Boston. She is 5-foot-1 (155 centimeters) and has blonde hair, dark eyes, a ready smile and a soothing voice, with a hint of Boston brogue. She’s a Tai Chi instructor who in classes invokes the benefits of meditation. And at least twice a month, she takes her German-made Walther PK380 to a shooting range and blazes away.
The advent of the 24/7 news cycle and its steady thrum on violent crimes may also be helping to drive people to handguns. Deciding to acquire one is part of “a broader feeling of helplessness that doesn’t come out of any kind of thoughtful calculation of risk,” says Homsher. “People buy guns to get rid of their phantoms.”

Women, too, may be liberalizing gun attitudes, because of the unprecedented numbers of them who have trained on firearms in the military and law enforcement in the past 30 years. Some 250,000 women have served in combat zones -- and often in combat roles -- in Iraq and Afghanistan, returning with a familiarity of firearms their mothers never had.

The latest data from the National Firearms Survey, a telephone poll conducted by an arm of the Harvard School of Public Health, shows 40 percent of America’s 283 million privately owned firearms are handguns, up from the 34 percent the survey found in 1994. And while middle-aged white men own the most handguns of any demographic segment, according to federal data, other groups are arming up.
Also wanted to comment on your questions/comments regarding the perceived role of a military by a society. It was interesting to me to observe the militarization of professional/civilian roles in society in Iraq. The US modeled this behavior, our Iraqi counterparts followed our lead...and we were appalled by the outcomes. The lessons of the Rubicon are always something to think about....