What are we worried about — Iowa invading? New Missouri Minutemen force is pointless

The crowded race for the silliest proposal before the Missouri General Assembly has a new front-runner.

Tuesday, state Sen. Bill White introduced a measure establishing what he calls the “Minutemen of the state.” Under White’s bill, any Missouri resident legally able to carry a firearm could volunteer to join the Missouri Minutemen.

The Minutemen would provide “defense in a state of emergency” when summoned by the governor and two-thirds of the state legislature.

“Law abiding Missourians deserve to protect themselves, their families and fellow Missouri residents,” White said in a news release. “I believe this creative approach simultaneously protects an individual’s right to bear arms, while enabling ordinary citizens to join forces when needed.”

First things first: The right to bear arms in Missouri is already fully protected. In fact, lawmakers spend far too much time worrying about nonexistent threats to the deadly arsenals assembled by tens of thousands of people in the state.

In 2014, voters overwhelmingly approved an amendment to the Missouri Constitution strengthening the individual right to keep weapons. “Any restriction on these rights shall be subject to strict scrutiny and the state of Missouri shall be obligated to uphold these rights,” the document says.

Seems pretty clear to us.

But White’s bill raises other interesting concerns. Is Missouri facing imminent threat of invasion from, say, Iowa? No. What danger would be so obvious and compelling that it requires the state to establish yet another organized, expensive armed force?

White’s Minutemen measure would require volunteers to purchase guns, ammo, uniforms and other equipment. The gear would be deemed property of the state “for purposes of sovereignty and jurisdiction in matters of judicial, taxation, and police powers,” it says.

We’re not typically inclined to feverish conspiracy theories, but the idea that a volunteer citizens army would allow its weapons to be considered state property should set off an alarm bell or two.

So should the bill’s requirement that volunteers register their names and addresses with the state. Guns would not be registered, but people would be. Sounds pretty deep state to us.

Other parts of White’s bill are vague. The governor (the “commander in chief” of the Minutemen) could establish training and discipline rules for the volunteers on his or her own, for example.

But it isn’t clear how much training would be required, if any. The bill establishes no obvious command structure, and does not define the volunteers’ police powers of arrest or use of force. (The bill exempts the state from liability for the acts of Minutemen when they’re called to duty.)

State already controls ‘unorganized militia’

Setting up a rogue citizens’ army isn’t like establishing a softball league. Armed, unsupervised volunteers might be tempted to wear their shiny uniforms and take the law into their own hands — something that every Missourian should fear.

Those who doubt that threat should review the video from the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, or at the Michigan State Capitol last year.

Finally, White’s bill skirts over the obvious: Missouri already has a 12,000-member National Guard, subject at least in part to state control and oversight. It also already has a “state defense force” of the “unorganized militia,” which a governor can use to supplement or replace the National Guard in case of natural disasters or other calamities.

“The Missouri state defense force may be used to execute the laws, suppress insurrections, repel invasion, suppress lawlessness, and provide emergency relief to distressed areas,” Missouri law already says.

It’s true that suppressing insurrection and lawlessness seem like appropriate goals in the current political climate. But no one is seriously suggesting Missouri lacks the tools to do so, or that it should spend millions of dollars so residents can play army with real guns.

White’s bill, introduced just weeks after insurrectionists tried to block the results of a free and fair presidential election, is tone-deaf and superfluous. It should not get a vote.

This story was originally published February 26, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "What are we worried about — Iowa invading? New Missouri Minutemen force is pointless."