The Government and You

By CTD Blogger published on in Camping & Survival, Safety and Training
Who can you count on during a SHTF scenario? That depends on the scenario, but when doing your planning there are two at least forces you need to consider. Even in a SHTF scenario, the government will respond, maybe not as quickly as you would like, but it will be there. Second, you will be there.

Inside this little piece of pottery is the most important component of any plan.

Planning your response to an emergency is critical. Some will plan for the long term, but all need to plan to survive until the government responds. You’ll also need to plan for you safety and security after the government responds. To do this, we need to understand the government’s response to a disaster. That means understanding the actions of the local, state, and perhaps the federal government. You’ll also need to know what you must do before disaster strikes, so you aren’t caught unprepared.

Government Response to a Disaster

The government will play a critical role before and during an SHTF (S*** hits the fan) situation. This will certainly happen at the local and state levels, and in a large enough catastrophe, from the federal level as well.

Here is a step-by-step process of how the government will usually react to large-scale disasters, so you can start making or updating a plan of your own.

1. First and foremost, the federal government will only lend assistance to the situation after an official request has been made by the governor of the state. The President of the United States will then have to make an official declaration of emergency, and at that point, the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) will then react as quickly as they can to the disaster. The primary goal of FEMA is to provide relief to everyone who has been affected by the extent to the disaster.
2. Before submitting a request for relief from the President, the governor of the state affected by the disaster will order a preliminary disaster report. The governor will then proceed to request that the President declare a state of emergency in the affected areas. It should be noted that while the governor can submit this request while the disaster is taking place, he or she can also submit the request before the disaster or when it is imminent (such as when it is obvious that a hurricane will soon strike the coastline).
3. Once the President has declared a state of emergency, he will be able to send funds to the local and state government to help provide relief to those affected. FEMA will engage the services of a dozen different departments at the federal level. The very act of the president declaring a disaster is a clear sign that the disaster is major and beyond the capabilities of the state or local government to handle in its own. In addition, the President will provide assistance to both private and public relief efforts.
4. The governor will also be able to request different kinds of assistance from the President.
5. There are also many different ways in which the Federal government will be able to provide assistance, including the following:
   • Providing personnel, equipment, and supplies to help in the relief efforts
   • Loans and grants
   • Technical assistance
6. Meanwhile, the state government will react to the crisis in the following ways:
   • Reviewing and improving local response efforts
   • Coordinating the state EOC (Emergency Operations Center) to help in relief efforts
   • Determining if more federal assistance is needed
   • An activation of the state disaster preparedness plan (if a state of emergency is declared by the governor)
7. The federal government will only become a source of resources for local and state governments if the disaster is so severe that local and state governments cannot handle the situation on their own. FEMA will then coordinate the implementation of the FRP (Federal Response Plan), which allows states to then work with FEMA in accessing resources and programs from the government.
8. The FRP will also decide how the Federal agency resources and the American Red Cross can work together to provide relief to the site of the disaster. An EST (Emergency Response Team) will also be established in Washington to monitor the relief efforts from there.

These are the primary steps that governments will undertake in response to a disaster either before it happens or while it’s happening.

Your Response to the Disaster

Do your preps include a plan on what you and your family will do during Martial Law?

Let’s say you’ll still be caught off guard, but you’ll at least have some time to make some preparations before the disaster comes to you:

What To Do 2 Hours Before a Disaster

Begin collecting as much water as you can by filling up your sinks, bathtubs, water containers, buckets, and anything else capable of storing water. Here’s how to build a water purification system in 10 minutes.

Double check your home stockpile: water, food, medical equipment, ammunition, personal hygiene items, and so on. If you are lacking anything that’s absolutely necessary, then you should consider making a quick run to the grocery store.

If you decide that you need to bug out, quickly conduct an inspection of your bug out bag and your bug out vehicle to make sure everything is present and in good working order. Most importantly, get in contact with each member of your family and have them meet you at your house.

What To Do 90 Minutes Before a Disaster

• Get as much cash as you can from ATM machine.
• Continue contacting more family members you haven’t gotten a hold of.
• This is your last chance to pick up any additional supplies that you may need, such as aluminum foil or fuel or ammunition or prescription medications.

One Hour Before a Disaster

It might surprise you that the every day items you carry will help in a survival situation.

If you are going to bug in, begin placing your items at strategic locations. For example, have a bug out bag ready-to-go at the front door in case you need to suddenly evacuate without warning, and place firearms at key defensive locations in your home (depending on the situation). For example if a hurricane hits and you didn’t have time to evacuate, then get some of your supplies in the attic.

30 Minutes Before a Disaster

• If you are going to bug in, then it is no longer safe to go outdoors. You need to have everybody in your home with the doors locked.
• Have your emergency radio going to keep track of the news.
• Have somebody in your family on watch for signs of trouble outside of the house.

Check Out These Related Articles

Guest Post: How Much Ammunition Is Enough?

The ammunition industry has been a very exciting place for the past few years. In addition to an influx of new hunters and shooters, we've also seen a number of individuals stocking up on various calibers of ammunition in anticipation of some unforeseen future shortages. The reasons to stockpile ammunition…

In "Ammunition"

Tags: Bugging In, Bugging Out, SHTF, Survival

Trackback from your site.

The mission of Cheaper Than Dirt!'s blog, "The Shooter's Log," is to provide information-not opinions-to our customers and the shooting community. We want you, our readers, to be able to make informed decisions. The information provided here does not represent the views of Cheaper Than Dirt!

For more information:
Blog Table of Contents
Top Rated Prepper Handbook Posts of all time 

List of Top 10 Lists 

Top 10 Prepper Websites 

Top 10 Posts

Search:  Government

Or click on a label below for similar topics.

Protecting America

 The greatest threats facing our country today are:

1. Radical Islam
2. Gun Control
3. Big Government and the NSA
4. Excessive Immigration

All very politically charged topics that our country will never fully agree on, but let me explain why they are serious threats.

1. First, anyone who lacks tolerance and believes all non-believers (in their religion) are enemies and should be killed are a serious threat.  Anyone who would blow themselves up to kill their enemies are a serious threat.  Iran has massive oil and natural gas reserves; why do they need nuclear power? What happens when these suicide bombers start getting equipped with small Iranian nuclear bombs?

The enemy is among us already.  Unless we put strict immigration laws in place and start enforcing them, they will continue to infiltrate our country further. For someone who hates and wants to destroy America, major targets are likely to be Houston, New Orleans, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego, San Jose, Dallas, Boston, Detroit & Washington DC.  This would kill millions and destroy most of our ability to produce electricity and gasoline plus our financial and government centers.

Granted, most Muslims are good peace loving people, but there are a large percentage who are radical or support radical Islam ideology.  Estimates and surveys I've heard have been between 13% and 20% while only 10% Germans were Nazis; the rest were coerced with political correctness and later fear of disappearing in the night.  Listening to Soccer fans in Turkey cheer the attack on Paris, this 13-20% seems believable.  This is obviously not enough to attack the US directly, but it is enough to infiltrate our country, create division between races and classes and cause major disruptions.  With the Billions of dollars in trade deficit we have sent to the middle east for oil, they have used that money to buy most of our businesses and politicians including millions of dollars to one of the leading presidential candidates today.

2. As long as we are armed, law abiding citizens can defend themselves against these other threats.  If there was strict gun control in 1770, the united States would not exist today except as a part of England.  Poorly armed and unable to secure our rights by force as George Washington did, we probably would have ended up on the short end of the stick like just the Native Americans, who initially had more people but were not armed as well.

The Right to Bear Arms that Shall not be infringed, wasn't intended to protect our ability to hunt for food, nor enable us to be safe in our homes but rather to protect us from a tyrannical government.  Our Forefathers that won our freedom carried the same guns the military did. The more our government infringes on the right to bear arms, the more important that right becomes to protect against them.

Oppressive countries enforce strict gun control and as a result, countries with less private firearm ownership tend to have lower personal rights, with the government deciding most everything of importance for them.  Things like what they can get, how much they are paid, which doctor they can see or even how many children they can have.  Mexico gun laws are very restrictive and very few citizens own guns and look at their terrible crime rate.  Countries that brag about low gun crime after banning them, either change the way they measure crime or fail to talk about total violent crime, which goes up after banning guns.  FBI statistics clearly show more guns correlates to less crime.  Banning guns only disarms law abiding citizens as the criminals still have them. See Gun Free Zone Facts This is based on an FBI report, not the "facts" of some special interest group.

Do we prohibit guns from criminals & those who are mentally ill?  The obvious answer seems to be yes, but think about this.  If we disagree with the government, they can declare us criminals or mentally ill.  Anyone who would want to own a gun must be mentally ill.... right?  Anyone who owns the wrong kind of gun, that gets more and more restrictive over time is a criminal, right? Can you see where this could go.  Next, an annual mental examination will be required to own a gun at our expense and a huge government fee/tax.  Slowly over time, more and more "common sense" gun regulations are put in place until it becomes nearly impossible to legally own a gun... no problem for criminals; actually unarmed victims is favorable for criminals.  Interesting how a large majority of all mass shootings are in Gun Free Zones.  Perhaps the people who implement those gun free zones are in part responsible for the victims who are shot, far more so than the gun manufactures being responsible when a criminal uses a gun to commit a crime.

It should be noted that almost all mass shootings in public since 1950 are in places were guns are banned.  So obviously banning guns does not work.  See Gun Free Zone Facts

3. Big government is the least efficient way to manage things.  Look at the US Post Office which lost billions of dollars while Fed X and UPS are making nice profits.  Look at Social Security which is about to go broke, while private insurance and retirement funds are making money hand over fist.  Look at the VA health care with Veterans who fought for our freedom having to wait months for medical care.  Hundreds of thousands reportedly died while waiting for Government ran Health Care.  This was such a problem in the UK that in 2010 they passed a law to "ensure that no person waits longer than 18 weeks from the date that a patient is referred to the hospital to the time of the operation or treatment."  This law was passed because UK government health care was taking much longer, just like the US Veterans health care was and like US health care for everyone will be if we don't get and keep the government out of it. 

The NSA tracks the average American's phone 25 times per day in 2014;  Where you are, who you talked to, how long, even what you said; every text message and photo you send. Such total knowledge is ripe for abuse.  Every politician or person who is opposed to the NSA, Big Government or the President in power could have incriminating information leak out about them that destroys their life, even if it was only circumstantial evidence and they were totally innocent.  The NSA tracking every American with out a warrant is not the answer and the loss of freedom that it represents is not worth the small (if any) increase in safety.  We need to stop letting potential enemies into our country, not erode our rights so we can bring even more in.

Our prosperity and security has led us to be passive as our Government has grown larger and larger and our federal debt has exceeded 18 Trillion dollars which is over $55,000 for every man woman and child according to USDebtClock.org .  A typical family of four, owes $220,0000 in federal government debt, in addition to our own personal debt and state debt.  The total debt is over 65 Trillion, or $200,000 per citizen, $800,000 per family of four.  This is despite about 4 Trillion dollars in federal tax revenue which is an average of $10,000 of annual federal taxes per US citizen, or $40,000 for a family of four.  Our federal tax code is over 60,000 pages long.

4. Our government is supposed to be "Of the People, by the People and for the People." The people being the citizens of our country and not everyone who visits legally and especially not those that come to or stay in our country illegally.  Illegal immigrants often steal someones identity to use their Social Security number to get a job.   They claim 99 dependents so that no taxes are withheld.  Their tax burden then falls on the person whose SS number they use.  Donald Trump was once criticized for saying most illegal immigrants were criminals. I take exception to that statement because they are ALL criminals.  Granted, most are hard working & otherwise law-abiding individuals but too many get welfare, food stamps and all the government free benefits with out paying any taxes. If legalized, they could file past tax returns for 3 years and get over $20,000 in Earned Income Credit despite not having paid any taxes. At the same time, educated professional people who would not depend on welfare seek to immigrate and can't.

Don't get me wrong, when our country was under populated, selective and regulated growth through immigration is healthy, but excessive or unregulated growth is cancerous.  During historical periods of excessive immigration, we have experienced gang wars, riots and turf battles between the different ethnic groups.  This is starting again and will only get worse if we don't get things under control now.

Many today don't come here to adopt our ways and fit in to our country, but rather to change our ways to be like theirs through political correctness and claims of racism and profiling.  Profiling is actually a case of law enforcement working smarter.  Would we expect them to question female suspects in a typical rape case or suspect someone with out gang tattoos in a gang related shooting? Not profiling is stupid, but it must be done right. Asking to see ID to vote or confirm the legal status of a drunk driver who doesn't speak English should be fine, especially since speaking English has been a requirement for over 100 years to become a US Citizen.

Let me be clear; I am not a racist despite what many are thinking now.  Further, I resent hearing this all the time and would push back with this. With 97% of the black voters voting for a Black President while about 50% of the whites voted for him and 50% voted against him (an even distribution), who are the real racist? I was raised for many years by a woman of a different color; I worked in Mexico for years and some of my best friends plus the best boss I ever worked for and that I respect highly was a different color.  While charity is good, we would not borrow money to provide for strangers, which is what our country is doing when we bring in immigrants and let them get on welfare, food stamps and free health care. We can't afford it.  When our budget is balanced, it is okay.

So how do we fix these things?  The Declaration of Independence says that "it is the Right of the People to alter" .. our government.  We have a means to achieve this peaceably.  We must all VOTE these principals above all others. Here are some links to help you write to your US Government representatives.

Find Your Senators
Find Your Representative
NumbersUSA
NRA 

We get rid of every politician in office that supports any form of gun control & expands government spending.  If the deficit goes up, no incumbent politician should be eligible for re-election. Businesses balance budgets all the time. Most Americans do it every week with their paychecks.  By normal business standards our country is bankrupt.


Obviously we can NOT deport every illegal immigrant. Its inhumane and our country needs the ones that work, pay taxes and do not draw welfare or other government handouts and speak English. Will there be some sob stories on the news and protests? Every illegal immigrant who violently protests should be immediately deported and never eligible to legally return under any circumstances.  Peaceful protests are 100% acceptable. Yes, the solutions to difficult problems are not easy or they would have been fixed already.

We must start by stopping the flow of more immigrants.  A wall is not practical and will not work, but requiring the use of E Verify or face employer fines of $50,000 for each illegal immigrant hired & enforcing it will solve the problem.  Those already working, paying taxes for the past 3-5 years, and not on any form of welfare, no criminal background, will receive a green card (not citizenship) and are temporarily exempt from deportation along with their immediate families.  They will be allowed to apply for citizenship like all other immigrants. Eventually many will go home because they won't be able to get jobs and welfare....others will stop coming.... problems solved.  Those that stay will be hard working law abiding citizens. 

For additional information see the following links:

Blog Table of Contents
The end of FREE America

Terrorist Attack - Best Preparations
The Best Gun 
NRA Gun Safety Rules
Gun Free Zone Facts   

The 4 BIGGEST THREATS facing America

 The greatest threats facing our country today are:

1. Radical Islam
2. Gun Control
3. Big Government and the NSA
4. Excessive Immigration

All very politically charged topics that our country will never fully agree on, but let me explain why they are serious threats.

1. First, anyone who lacks tolerance and believes all non-believers (in their religion) are enemies and should be killed are a serious threat.  Anyone who would blow themselves up to kill their enemies are a serious threat.  Iran has massive oil and natural gas reserves; why do they need nuclear power? What happens when these suicide bombers start getting equipped with small Iranian nuclear bombs?

The enemy is among us already and some of our leaders want to bring more. This next election may be our last chance to secure America. Unless we put strict immigration laws in place and start enforcing them, they will continue to infiltrate our country further. For someone who hates and wants to destroy America, major targets are likely to be New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego, Boston, Detroit & Washington DC.  This would kill millions and destroy our financial and government centers.  Families that can be verified as non radical by the FBI and who are interested in becoming Americans should be allowed to legally immigrate in accordance with our laws.

Granted, most Muslims are good peace loving people, but there are a large percentage who are radical or silently support radical Islam ideology.  Estimates and surveys I've heard have been between 13% and 20% while only 10% of Germans were Nazis; the rest were coerced with political correctness and later fear of disappearing in the night.  Listening to some of the Soccer fans in Turkey cheer the attack on Paris, this 13-20% seems believable. This is obviously not enough to attack the US directly, but it is enough to infiltrate our country, create division between races and classes and cause major disruptions.  With the Billions of dollars in trade deficit we have sent to the middle east for oil, they have used that money to buy most of our businesses, our media and then indirectly, our politicians including millions of dollars to one of the leading presidential candidates in 2016.

2. As long as we are armed, law abiding citizens can defend themselves against these other threats.  If there was strict gun control in 1770, the united States would not exist today except as a part of England.  Poorly armed and unable to secure our rights by force as George Washington did, we probably would have ended up on the short end of the stick like just the Native Americans, who initially had more people but were not armed as well.

The Right to Bear Arms that Shall not be infringed, wasn't intended to protect our ability to hunt for food, nor enable us to be safe in our homes.  The Right to Bear Arms was intended to protect us from a tyrannical government.  Our Forefathers that won our freedom carried the same guns the military did. The more our government infringes on the right to bear arms, the more important that right becomes to protect against them.

Oppressive countries enforce strict gun control and as a result, countries with less private firearm ownership tend to have lower personal rights, with the government deciding most everything of importance for them.  Things like what they can get, how much they are paid, which doctor they can see or even how many children they can have.  Mexico gun laws are very restrictive and very few citizens own guns and look at their terrible crime rate.  Countries that brag about low gun crime after banning them, either change the way they measure crime or fail to talk about total violent crime, which goes up after banning guns.  FBI statistics clearly show more guns correlates to less crime.  Banning guns only disarms law abiding citizens as the criminals still have them. See Gun Free Zone Facts This is based on an FBI report, not the "facts" of some special interest group.

Do we prohibit guns from criminals & those who are mentally ill?  The obvious answer seems to be yes, but think about this.  If we disagree with the government, they can declare us criminals or mentally ill.  Anyone who would want to own a gun must be mentally ill.... right?  Anyone who owns the wrong kind of gun, that gets more and more restrictive over time is a criminal, right? Veterans and Senior Citizens (easy prey for criminals) won't be competent enough to own guns. Can you see where this could go.  Next, an annual mental examination will be required to own a gun at our expense and a huge government fee/tax.  Slowly over time, more and more "common sense" gun regulations are put in place until it becomes nearly impossible to legally own a gun... no problem for criminals; actually unarmed victims is favorable for criminals.  Interesting how a large majority of all mass shootings are in Gun Free Zones.  Perhaps the people who implement those gun free zones are in part responsible for the victims who are shot, far more so than the gun manufactures being responsible when a criminal uses a gun to commit a crime. 

It should be noted that almost most mass shootings in public since 1950 are in places were guns are banned.  So obviously banning guns does not work.  See Gun Free Zone Facts

3. Big government is the least efficient way to manage things.  Look at the US Post Office which lost billions of dollars while Fed X and UPS are making nice profits.  Look at Social Security which is about to go broke, while private insurance and retirement funds are making money hand over fist.  Look at the VA health care with Veterans who fought for our freedom having to wait months for medical care.  Hundreds of thousands reportedly died while waiting for Government ran Health Care.  This was such a problem in the UK that in 2010 they passed a law to "ensure that no person waits longer than 18 weeks from the date that a patient is referred to the hospital to the time of the operation or treatment."  This law was passed because UK government health care was taking much longer, just like the US Veterans health care was and like US health care for everyone will be if we don't get and keep the government out of it. 

The NSA tracks the average American's phone 25 times per day in 2014;  Where you are, who you talked to, how long, even what you said; every text message and photo you send. Such total knowledge is ripe for abuse.  Every politician or person who is opposed to the NSA, Big Government or the President in power could have incriminating information leak out about them that destroys their life, even if it was only circumstantial evidence and they were totally innocent.  The NSA tracking every American with out a warrant is not the answer and the loss of freedom that it represents is not worth the small (if any) increase in safety.  We need to stop letting potential enemies into our country, not erode our rights so we can bring even more in.

Our prosperity and security has led us to be passive as our Government has grown larger and larger and our federal debt has exceeded 18 Trillion dollars which is over $55,000 for every man woman and child according to USDebtClock.org .  A typical family of four, owes $220,0000 in federal government debt, in addition to our own personal debt and state debt.  The total debt is over 65 Trillion, or $200,000 per citizen, $800,000 per family of four.  This is despite about 4 Trillion dollars in federal tax revenue which is an average of $10,000 of annual federal taxes per US citizen, or $40,000 for a family of four.  Our federal tax code is over 60,000 pages long.

4. Our government is supposed to be "Of the People, by the People and for the People." The people being the citizens of our country and not everyone who visits legally and especially not those that come to or stay in our country illegally.  Illegal immigrants often steal someones identity to use their Social Security number to get a job.   They claim 99 dependents so that no taxes are withheld.  Their tax burden then falls on the person whose SS number they use.  Donald Trump was once criticized for saying most illegal immigrants were criminals. I take exception to that statement because they are ALL criminals.  Granted, most are hard working & otherwise law-abiding individuals but too many get welfare, food stamps and all the government free benefits with out paying any taxes. If legalized, they could file past tax returns for 3 years and get over $20,000 in Earned Income Credit despite not having paid any taxes. At the same time, educated professional people who would not depend on welfare seek to immigrate and can't.

Don't get me wrong, when our country was under populated, selective and regulated growth through immigration is healthy, but excessive or unregulated growth is cancerous.  During historical periods of excessive immigration, we have experienced gang wars, riots and turf battles between the different ethnic groups.  This is starting again and will only get worse if we don't get things under control now.

Many today don't come here to adopt our ways and fit in to our country, but rather to change our ways to be like theirs through political correctness and claims of racism and profiling.  Profiling is actually a case of law enforcement working smarter.  Would we expect them to question female suspects in a typical rape case or suspect someone with out gang tattoos in a gang related shooting? Not profiling is stupid, but it must be done right. Asking to see ID to vote or confirm the legal status of a drunk driver who doesn't speak English should be fine, especially since speaking English has been a requirement for over 100 years to become a US Citizen.

Let me be clear; I am not a racist despite what many are thinking now.  Further, I resent hearing this all the time and would push back with this. With 97% of the black voters voting for a Black President while about 50% of the whites voted for him and 50% voted against him (an even distribution), who are the real racist? I was raised for many years by a woman of a different color; I worked in Mexico for years and some of my best friends plus the best boss I ever worked for and that I respect highly was a different color.  While charity is good, we would not borrow money to provide for strangers, which is what our country is doing when we bring in immigrants and let them get on welfare, food stamps and free health care. We can't afford it.  When our budget is balanced, it is okay.

So how do we fix these things?  The Declaration of Independence says that "it is the Right of the People to alter" .. our government.  We have a means to achieve this peaceably.  We must all VOTE these principals above all others. Here are some links to help you write to your US Government representatives.

Find Your Senators
Find Your Representative
NumbersUSA
NRA 

We get rid of every politician in office that supports any form of gun control & expands government spending.  If the deficit goes up, no incumbent politician should be eligible for re-election. Businesses balance budgets all the time. Most Americans do it every week with their paychecks.  By normal business standards our country is bankrupt.


Obviously we can NOT deport every illegal immigrant. Its inhumane and our country needs the ones that work, pay taxes and do not draw welfare or other government handouts and speak English. Will there be some sob stories on the news and protests? Yes, the solutions to difficult problems are not easy or they would have been fixed already. Every illegal immigrant involved in violent protests should be immediately deported and never eligible to legally return under any circumstances.  Peaceful protests are 100% acceptable and I highly encourage them.  Martin Luther King was a great leader who changed history with Peaceful Protest.  Had he encouraged violence, it would have failed.

We must start by stopping the flow of more immigrants.  A wall is not practical and will not work, but requiring the use of E Verify or face employer fines of $50,000 for each illegal immigrant hired & enforcing it will solve the problem.  Illegal immigrants already working, paying taxes for the past 3-5 years, and not on any form of welfare, no criminal background, will receive a green card (not citizenship) and are temporarily exempt from deportation along with their immediate families.  They will be allowed to apply for citizenship like any other immigrant but receive no special consideration just because they broke our laws. Over time, many will go home because they won't be able to get jobs and welfare....others will stop coming.... problems solved.  Those that stay will be hard working law abiding citizens. 

For additional information see the following links:
Blog Table of Contents
The end of FREE America

Terrorist Attack - Best Preparations
Gun Free Zone Facts   

Or click on a label below for similar topics.

Oath Keepers

I wanted to share with you a Military & Law Enforcement organization that have sworn to protect our Constitution and Freedom.  I highly recommend reading this and then finding out if any of your Military & Law Enforcement friends or neighbors are members and if no, why not? These are the true protectors of freedom in our country!

Recognizing that we each swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and affirming that we are guardians of the Republic, of the principles in our Declaration of Independence, and of the rights of our people, we affirm and declare the following:

1. We will NOT obey any order to disarm the American people.

The attempt to disarm the people on April 19, 1775 was the spark of open conflict in the American Revolution. That vile attempt was an act of war, and the American people fought back in justified, righteous self-defense of their natural rights. Any such order today would also be an act of war against the American people, and thus an act of treason. We will not make war on our own people, and we will not commit treason by obeying any such treasonous order.

Nor will we assist, or support any such attempt to disarm the people by other government entities, either state or federal.

In addition, we affirm that the purpose of the Second Amendment is to preserve the military power of the people so that they will, in the last resort, have effective final recourse to arms and to the God of Hosts in the face of tyranny. Accordingly, we oppose any and all further infringements on the right of the people to keep and bear arms. In particular we oppose a renewal of the misnamed “assault-weapons” ban or the enactment of H.R. 45 (which would register and track gun owners like convicted pedophiles).

2. We will NOT obey any order to conduct warrant less searches of the American people, their homes, vehicles, papers, or effects – such as warrant less house-to house searches for weapons or persons.

One of the causes of the American Revolution was the use of “writs of assistance,” which were essentially warrant less searches because there was no requirement of a showing of probable cause to a judge, and the first fiery embers of American resistance were born in opposition to those infamous writs. The Founders considered all warrant less searches to be unreasonable and egregious. It was to prevent a repeat of such violations of the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects that the Fourth Amendment was written.

We expect that sweeping warrant less searches of homes and vehicles, under some pretext, will be the means used to attempt to disarm the people.

3. We will NOT obey any order to detain American citizens as “unlawful enemy combatants” or to subject them to trial by military tribunal.

One of the causes of the American Revolution was the denial of the right to jury trial, the use of admiralty courts (military tribunals) instead, and the application of the laws of war to the colonists. After that experience, and being well aware of the infamous Star Chamber in English history, the Founders ensured that the international laws of war would apply only to foreign enemies, not to the American people. Thus, the Article III Treason Clause establishes the only constitutional form of trial for an American, not serving in the military, who is accused of making war on his own nation. Such a trial for treason must be before a civilian jury, not a tribunal.

The international laws of war do not trump our Bill of Rights. We reject as illegitimate any such claimed power, as did the Supreme Court in Ex Parte Milligan (1865). Any attempt to apply the laws of war to American civilians, under any pretext, such as against domestic “militia” groups the government brands “domestic terrorists,” is an act of war and an act of treason.

4. We will NOT obey orders to impose martial law or a “state of emergency” on a state, or to enter with force into a state, without the express consent and invitation of that state’s legislature and governor.

One of the causes of the American Revolution was the attempt “to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power” by disbanding the Massachusetts legislature and appointing General Gage as “military governor.” The attempt to disarm the people of Massachusetts during that martial law sparked our Revolution. Accordingly, the power to impose martial law – the absolute rule over the people by a military officer with his will alone being law – is nowhere enumerated in our Constitution.

Further, it is the militia of a state and of the several states that the Constitution contemplates being used in any context, during any emergency within a state, not the standing army.

The imposition of martial law by the national government over a state and its people, treating them as an occupied enemy nation, is an act of war. Such an attempted suspension of the Constitution and Bill of Rights voids the compact with the states and with the people.

5. We will NOT obey orders to invade and subjugate any state that asserts its sovereignty and declares the national government to be in violation of the compact by which that state entered the Union.

In response to the obscene growth of federal power and to the absurdly totalitarian claimed powers of the Executive, upwards of 20 states are considering, have considered, or have passed courageous resolutions affirming states rights and sovereignty.

Those resolutions follow in the honored and revered footsteps of Jefferson and Madison in their Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, and likewise seek to enforce the Constitution by affirming the very same principles of our Declaration, Constitution, and Bill of Rights that we Oath Keepers recognize and affirm.

Chief among those principles is that ours is a dual sovereignty system, with the people of each state retaining all powers not granted to the national government they created, and thus the people of each state reserved to themselves the right to judge when the national government they created has voided the compact between the states by asserting powers never granted.

Upon the declaration by a state that such a breach has occurred, we will not obey orders to force that state to submit to the national government.

6. We will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps.

One of the causes of the American Revolution was the blockade of Boston, and the occupying of that city by the British military, under martial law. Once hostilities began, the people of Boston were tricked into turning in their arms in exchange for safe passage, but were then forbidden to leave. That confinement of the residents of an entire city was an act of war.

Such tactics were repeated by the Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto, and by the Imperial Japanese in Nanking, turning entire cities into death camps. Any such order to disarm and confine the people of an American city will be an act of war and thus an act of treason.

7. We will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext.

Mass, forced internment into concentration camps was a hallmark of every fascist and communist dictatorship in the 20th Century. Such internment was unfortunately even used against American citizens of Japanese descent during World War II. Whenever a government interns its own people, it treats them like an occupied enemy population. Oppressive governments often use the internment of women and children to break the will of the men fighting for their liberty – as was done to the Boers, to the Jewish resisters in the Warsaw Ghetto, and to the Chechens, for example.

Such a vile order to forcibly intern Americans without charges or trial would be an act of war against the American people, and thus an act of treason, regardless of the pretext used. We will not commit treason, nor will we facilitate or support it. “NOT on Our Watch!”

8. We will NOT obey orders to assist or support the use of any foreign troops on U.S. soil against the American people to “keep the peace” or to “maintain control” during any emergency, or under any other pretext. We will consider such use of foreign troops against our people to be an invasion and an act of war.

During the American Revolution, the British government enlisted the aid of Hessian mercenaries in an attempt to subjugate the rebellious American people. Throughout history, repressive regimes have enlisted the aid of foreign troops and mercenaries who have no bonds with the people.

Accordingly, as the militia of the several states are the only military force contemplated by the Constitution, in Article I, Section 8, for domestic keeping of the peace, and as the use of even our own standing army for such purposes is without such constitutional support, the use of foreign troops and mercenaries against the people is wildly unconstitutional, egregious, and an act of war.

We will oppose such troops as enemies of the people and we will treat all who request, invite, and aid those foreign troops as the traitors they are.

9. We will NOT obey any orders to confiscate the property of the American people, including food and other essential supplies, under any emergency pretext whatsoever.

One of the causes of the American Revolution was the seizure and forfeiture of American ships, goods, and supplies, along with the seizure of American timber for the Royal Navy, all in violation of the people’s natural right to their property and to the fruits of their labor. The final spark of the Revolution was the attempt by the government to seize powder and cannon stores at Concord.

Deprivation of food has long been a weapon of war and oppression, with millions intentionally starved to death by fascist and communist governments in the 20th Century alone.

Accordingly, we will not obey or facilitate orders to confiscate food and other essential supplies from the people, and we will consider all those who issue or carry out such orders to be the enemies of the people.

10. We will NOT obey any orders which infringe on the right of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition their government for a redress of grievances.

There would have been no American Revolution without fiery speakers and writers such as James Otis, Patrick Henry, Thomas Paine, and Sam Adams “setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.”

Patrick Henry: “Give me Liberty, or Give me DEATH!”

Tyrants know that the pen of a man such as Thomas Paine can cause them more damage than entire armies, and thus they always seek to suppress the natural rights of speech, association, and assembly. Without freedom of speech, the people will have no recourse but to arms. Without freedom of speech and conscience, there is no freedom.
Therefore, we will not obey or support any orders to suppress or violate the right of the people to speak, associate, worship, assemble, communicate, or petition government for the redress of grievances.

— And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually affirm our oath and pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor. Oath Keepers

The above list is not exhaustive but we do consider them to be clear tripwires – they form our “line in the sand,” and if we receive such orders, we will not obey them. Further, we will know that the time for another American Revolution is nigh. If you the people decide that you have no recourse, and such a revolution comes, at that time, not only will we NOT fire upon our fellow Americans who righteously resist such egregious violations of their God given rights, we will join them in fighting against those who dare attempt to enslave them.

NOTE: please also read our Principles of Our Republic We Are Sworn to Defend

More about Oath Keepers

Oath Keepers is a non partisan association of currently serving military, peace officers, fire-fighters, and veterans who will fulfill our oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, so help us God.

Our oath is to the Constitution, not to the politicians, and not to any political party. In the long-standing tradition of the U.S. military, we are apolitical. We don’t care if unlawful orders come from a Democrat or a Republican, or if the violation is bi-partisan. We will not obey unconstitutional (and thus unlawful) and immoral orders, such as orders to disarm the American people or to place them under martial law. We won’t “just follow orders.” Our motto: “Not on Our Watch!” or to put it even more succinctly, in the words of 101st Airborne Commander General Anthony McAuliffe at the Battle of the Bulge, “NUTS!”

There is at this time a debate within the ranks of the military regarding their oath. Some mistakenly believe they must follow any order the President issues. But many others do understand that their loyalty is to the Constitution and to the people, and understand what that means.

The mission of Oath Keepers is to vastly increase their numbers.

We are in a battle for the hearts and minds of our own troops.

Help us win it.

www.oathkeepers.org

For additional information see the following links:

Blog Table of Contents

Beginners:

Beginner Prepper List

The Rule of 3 (set priorities by this)

US Government Recommended Preparations

Why we are ALL Preppers (for skeptics)

Investing for Preppers

Advanced Prepper Resource

Prepper Handbook Table of Contents

Oath Keepers, true protectors of freedom

Group Security Drills

Bees for Prepping

Food and water:

Building your food stores the right way

Getting Started (Water)

Green House for year-round food supply

Prepper Handbook  

Gardening101 – Soil Basics

Best Prepper Chicken Breed

Bees for Prepping

Edible Wild Plants:

Chickweed & Hackberries

Natural Disaster Preparations

Natural & Man Made Disaster Preparations  

Hurricanes

Firearms and security:

NRA Gun Safety Rules

Beginner Prepper List

Survival Pack

Passive Layered Security

Night Vision

Red flag warnings its time to Bug Out

Bug Out Warning

Investing for Preppers (Financial Security)

The Best Gun

Group Security Drills

Urban Survival Perspective

Urban Survival Plan

Shelter:

Concrete Bunker Plans

Solar Power System

Wilderness Survival:

Survival Pack (Security Patrol or Bug Out pack)

Wilderness Survival Pack (Video) 

Wilderness Survival