First off, someone please tell me how a state militia could be classified as "unorganized."
The Courthouse News Service of South Carolina is reporting:
State Sen. Tom Corbin's Senate Bill 247 would declare virtually everyone in South Carolina a member of the unorganized militia, unless they in an organized militia, such as the National Guard.
The bill got its first reading on Jan. 16, 2013, 32 days after the Newtown, Conn. elementary school massacre. Corbin, a Republican, said he introduced the bill so South Carolinians could keep their guns and ammunition no matter what Congress does. If anything.
"It's not the gun's fault, it's never the gun's fault," Corbin told the Charleston Post and Courier. "It's the person. But everybody wants to come down on the gun, and I've never thought that was right."
The bill has received bipartisan support from one of the state's senate committee. It would include language stating that...
"... any able-bodied citizen of the state who is over seventeen years of age and can legally purchase a firearm is deemed a member of the South Carolina Unorganized Militia, unless he is already a member of the National Guard or the organized militia not in National Guard Service."
It also states that...
"a militia member, at his own expense, shall have the right to possess and keep all arms that could be legally acquired or possessed by a South Carolina citizen as of Dec. 31, 2012. This includes shouldered rifles and shotguns, handguns, clips, magazines, and all components."
And, it says: "The unorganized militia may not fall under any law or regulation or jurisdiction of any person or entity outside of South Carolina." (my emphasis)
Corbin told the Charleston Post and Courier that even if enemy invaders didn't come ashore, an unorganized militia could protect the United States.
"If they [an enemy] were landing on North Carolina's shores, I don't see why we wouldn't go up there and help our brothers fight," Corbin told the newspaper, which said he mentioned the "red Chinese" as a possible invader.
If enacted, the legislation would be the third state in the country to incorporate the 2nd Amendment into the concept of a state militia into state law, following Alaska and Hawaii.
I think anyone of reasonable mind could perhaps rationalize the potential need for a state militia in outlier states like Alaska and Hawaii. But South Carolina? To me, this is just another opportunity for reactionary Republicans to take the concept of nullification out for another spin... just to spite the black man in the White House.
Here's The Post and Courier's coverage of the first senate panel to clear passage for the bill back in February.