Militia Movement

The militia movement is a political movement of paramilitary groups in the United States. Members of the movement typically refer to themselves as militia, "unorganized militia", and "constitutional militia". While groups such as the Posse Comitatus existed as early as the 1980s, the movement gained momentum after controversial standoffs with government agents in the early nineties, and by the mid-nineties, groups were active in all 50 states with membership estimated at between 20,000 and 60,000. Although in unconnected groups, they may be united in their beliefs of the federal government's threat to their freedom, and in particular the movement's opposition to any limit of the Second Amendment right to bear arms.