If the government becomes tyrannical, and the well-regulated militia is called into action, who will be in command?

There is no ‘well-regulated’ militia in the sense you are using the term. The militia today as it was at the time of our country’s founding is composed of the entire adult population of the country.

‘Well-regulated’ meant that each citizen capable of protecting self, home, and town would both arm and train himself to be ready to do so. This was not outside the normal preparation that people living on a frontier would be doing. It was necessary for people to be able to protect themselves, because in many instances they were far from others who could help them.

There were laws in many New England towns forbidding travel outside the town limits without being armed. The reason for those laws was that should an unarmed citizen of the town be attacked and either taken or killed, the town would rally to either free or avenge him. This action would put the entire town in danger.

People needed and were required to be able to take care of themselves. The ‘militia’ were all the men from 15- or 16- to approximately 60-years of age who were expected to turn out to proetect the towns in the colonies. The age varied in the different colonies. Women and both younger and older men were still expected to be able to protect themselves and their homes.

For decades we have lived in a less hostile environment, and have hired people to take care of us. Many of us have lost the urge to be self-sufficient. However, there are a great number of Americans who understand that they are their own first defense. We cannot rely of our hired protectors to take care of each individual. The police do the best that they can, but are not responsible for each and every person in the community, but only the community at large.

There is, therefore, no official militia as there was in earlier times. However, it is the duty of every citizen to protect himself, family, and community. We may shirk this duty, but it is ours nevertheless.

To protect our communities and our country, we need to prevent a tyranny from happening. We do this by paying attention to what our government is doing. We need to stop the overreach of all levels of government, and remember that we are a nation created to be governed through the consent of the people. We are not subjects of any kind of tyrant.

Therefore, our duty is to preserve and protect our Constitution, because no tyrant can exist under our Constitution. If we fail in our duty, we will be in chaos. Then, those people who are prepared to take care of themselves and their families might possibly survive. There will be no place in which to seek refuge if the United States of America, as it was created, disappears.

QUORA