The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution reads: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to hold and to bear arms shall not be violated” (US Const. amend. II). The right to bear arms is one of the essential components of American democracy. But since Bill Clinton's presidency, during which the Ruby Ridge incident and the Waco siege took place, right-wing militias have grown in size and number in response to a wide range of issues, from abortion to government tyranny. Although the right of all Americans to bear arms and assemble is protected by the Constitution, these militias pose a serious threat to the internal security of the United States. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"? Get the original essay Most militias are made up of private citizens who use their own weapons and ammunition to practice military training in times of disaster, d collapse of government or social order, or to fight the government if it descends into tyranny. These militias do not include private security companies or government armed forces such as the National Guard, although many members of right-wing militias have military experience. Names such as "right-wing militia" and "militia group" are broad terms used to describe the wide variety of groups in the United States that share certain ideological and behavioral similarities. Most support some form of nationalism, strongly favor constitutionalism, tend to be Christian, and are almost always interested in guns. These subsets include tax protesters, sovereign citizens, white supremacists, anti-abortionists, and Christian extremists. While some militias like the Three Percent United Patriots carried out service or relief operations after the water crisis in Flint, Michigan and flooding in Louisiana and South Carolina, the actions of other groups are much more incendiary and instigating (Bauer, 2016). In October 2016, three Kansas men were arrested for plotting to bomb a housing project housing many Somali immigrants. All three were members of a small militia called the Kansas Security Force, a group that championed the sovereign citizen movement and anti-government beliefs and harbored intense hatred toward immigrants and Muslims (Ellis, 2016). Although the group has distanced itself from the men, a leader of Three Percent Patriots United, a Colorado-based militia, said: "I worry every day that people who come into the militia will go out and do something thing” when asked if they were involved. its members would commit an attack against a politician or member of the public (Bauer, 2016). The militia movement first came to the attention of the general American public following the Oklahoma City bombing for which Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were found responsible. by detonating a 3.5-ton bomb that killed 168 people and destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The two men had met in training camp while serving in the army and shared some radical views on government (Andryszewski, 1997). While living together after leaving the military, the two men witnessed a fire at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, where the ATF and FBI had unsuccessfully attempted to execute a search warranton federal weapons charges. The fire left 76 men, women and children dead, in addition to the 6 Branch Davidians and 4 ATF agents killed during the initial firefight. McVeigh and Nichols were so outraged by the actions of federal agencies that they planned the OKC bombing in retaliation (Freilich, 2003). They also cited the actions of the ATF, FBI and U.S. Marshals during the Ruby Ridge incident, in which 14-year-old Sammy Weaver was shot in the back while fleeing the US Marshals while his mother Vicki Weaver was shot and killed by an FBI. sniper while caring for his 9-month-old child (Major Frederick D. Wong, 2011). The Oklahoma City bombing highlighted anti-government, sovereign citizen and militia movements that were largely limited to Internet chat rooms and gun shows. It also demonstrated the enormous danger these people posed to the federal government and even ordinary citizens. Militias grew most during Barack Obama's first term as president. His perceived anti-gun agenda, use of federal authority and lax attitude toward illegal immigration have caused many Republicans and conservatives to join or form militias. Many groups have sprung up in states bordering Mexico and now patrol the border areas at their own pace and within their financial means to combat drug traffickers, human traffickers, and illegal immigrants (Bauer, 2016). These groups celebrated the election of President Donald Trump, who attracted them with his support for the 2nd Amendment and his tough stance on illegal immigration. There are many reasons why private militias pose a pressing threat to national security. First, the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security has stated that right-wing militias pose the most pressing threat to U.S. homeland security in law enforcement's assessment of the threat of violent extremism ( Kurzman & Shanzer, 2015). The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks the number of extremist groups in the United States, said that in 2016, 276 right-wing groups came to their attention, a 37% increase from the 202 such groups known in 2014 (2014). Right-wing groups have killed about half as many people in the United States as Islamist terrorists, according to New America, a think tank that compiles statistics on terrorist activity in the United States (Bergen, Ford, Sims & Sterman, 2016). A six-month investigation by TIME magazine in 2010 found that more and more militias are preparing for full-blown war and that the FBI and state investigators are looking more closely at the activities of these groups (Gellman, 2010). But in addition to the growing number of militias, the cultural and operational aspects of militias also contribute to the danger posed by these groups. Many militias trace their roots to the KKK and other extremist groups, some of which have only ever made empty threats, while others have directly attacked U.S. citizens or the federal government. These domestic extremists share many characteristics with foreign terrorist groups. The indoctrination of children into radical ideologies, the acquisition of weapons, the intrinsic link between beliefs and violence, and the use of propaganda to advance their cause are all activities carried out by foreign and domestic militant groups (Wong, 2011). They represent another threat in their ability to carry out attacks inside the United States, much more easily than..