Whenever Democrats run the country (or whatever it is Democrats are doing in Washington :D), we hear about militia groups lurking in our forests, preparing for armed insurrection. I guess we're supposed to be scared, but I just can't feel the fear. Whenever I hear about these guys dressing up in fatigues, giving themselves titles and command structures, using jargon, often incorrectly, running around in the forest playing war games with harmless weapons, I don't think about 1776 or 1860... I think about LARP.
Live Action Role Play is a game played all over the world... these are the folks who you see dressing up in faux-medieval outfits, giving themselves titles and command structures, using jargon, often incorrectly, running around in parks playing war games with harmless weapons.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Militias aren't exactly the same as LARPs, of course; the LARPers' fantasy doesn't involve modern politics and 'statecraft', and the LARPers know that their games are a fantasy.
These militia are about as harmless as LARPers, despite all their bluster. Not one would last in combat against many law enforcement agencies, much less a platoon of well-trained American soldiers. If they resort to terrorism, we've shown we can handle that, too. Besides, worst-case, we can just send a drone to take out their camp.
(The title might imply that I disdain geeks. On the contrary, geeks (and nerds) are the people who do what makes them happy no matter what others think. I am happy to be one of them. But I'm not a gun or military geek. The people in these "militias" are just the full-out gun-geekiness played out in real life. )