    Policy Statement of the National Rifle Association on
          Extremist Organizations and Militia Groups

Appointed by NRA President Tom Washington at the February 4-5,
1995, Board of Directors Meeting, the Special Task Force to Review
Militia Policy unanimously recommended reaffirmation of NRA's pre-
existing policies and position.  Following its report and
subsequent review by the Legislative Policy Committee on May 18,
1995 at the NRA Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, the Committee
voted unanimously to recommend reaffirmation of NRA's pre-existing
policies and position.  Brought before the membership at the Annual
Meeting of Members, with over 1,500 members assembled, the
resolution to reaffirm NRA's pre-existing policy on extremist
organizations adopted in 1964, and its 1994 statement on militias,
was adopted. There were three dissenting votes.  The Board of
Directors, at their meeting on Tuesday, May 23, 1995, reaffirmed
the following policy by unanimous vote:  

WHEREAS the Board of Directors of the National Rifle Association of
America gathered at its Annual Meeting on May 22-23, 1995 in
Phoenix, Arizona, desires to reaffirm its policy on extremist
organizations adopted in 1964, and its 1994 statement on militias,
therefore;

BE IT REAFFIRMED AND RESOLVED THAT:

       The NRA vehemently disavows any connection with, or tacit
approval of, any club or individual which advocates (1) the
overthrow of duly constituted government authority, (2) subversive
activities directed at any government, (3) the establishment or
maintenance of private armies or group violence.

       The NRA does not approve or support any group activities that
properly belong to the national defense or the police.

       The NRA does not approve or support any group that by force,
violence, or subversion seeks to overthrow the Government and take
the law into its own hands, or that endorses or espouses doctrines
of operation in an extralegal manner.

       The NRA stands squarely on the premise that the ownership of
firearms must not be denied American citizens of good repute so
long as the firearms are used for lawful purposes.

       The NRA has insisted, does insist, and will continue to insist
on the traditional right of American citizens to own and use
firearms for lawful purposes.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT:

       Although the NRA has not been involved in the formation of any
citizen militia units, neither has the NRA discouraged, nor would
NRA contemplate discouraging, exercise of any constitutional right.

       The NRA strongly supports the Constitution of the United
States, and the Second Amendment to that document, which guarantee
the right of citizens to participate in militias for proper, lawful
and constitutional purposes.
       
       FURTHER, it is the NRA's view, based on law (Article I,
section 8 of the U.S. Constitution; Title 10, U.S. Code, Section
311(a)), court precedents, and legal and historical interpretation,
that all able-bodied persons, explicitly those between the ages of
17 and 45, are members of the Federal unorganized militia, except
members of the organized state guards (for example, State Defense
Forces which exist in about two dozen states), the National Guards
of the various states (which also serve as a part of the National
Guard of the United States, a military reserve subject to
nationalization by the President of the United States), and certain
government officials.  An "organized citizen militia" must be
created under the constitution itself and/or the laws of a state.

       Title 10, U.S.C., clearly affirms the existence of the citizen
militia; it is little changed since the original Militia Act of
1792 (except for the addition in this century of recognition of the
third type of militia, the Federally supported National Guard, in
addition to the enrolled and unenrolled militia).

       Further, the individual right to own firearms is guaranteed by
the Constitution, but the right to own firearms is not at all
dependent upon the militia clause.  The militia clause of the
Second Amendment merely adds to the reason for the right, which is
a common law right rooted in the right of protection of self,
family and community.

       The Second Amendment guarantees an individual's right to arms;
participation in a citizen militia organization does not make that
right more valid nor any stronger.

                           - end - 

(For NRA's analysis of the so-called "militia movement", featuring
editorial commentary by Glenn Reynolds, Associate Professor of Law
at the University of Tennessee, call the National Rifle Association
at 1-800-392-8683 and request a copy of "Black Helicopters and
Flights of Fantasy.")
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