If You Are A Minuteman, You Need A Musket
Actually, an AR-15, which is the modern Brown Bess Musket
Historical background
The American Revolution officially began on April 19, 1775 when Colonial Militia and British Regulars clashed at the towns of Concord and Lexington in Massachussetts. The first battle became known as the shot heard around the world. The reason that British Regulars had marched out to Concord and Lexington was to seize weapons and ammunition from the American colonists.
All through 1774 and the first months of 1775 there had been significant clashes between the American colonists and the British Government over taxes, restrictions on free speech and assembly, and more. By this point, the British Governor of Massachusetts did not want the American Colonists to have “weapons of war” and was actively working to confiscate guns, bullets and gun powder. The most common weapon of the day was the Brown Bess musket, a standard weapon for Regular and Militia infantry, as well as the default firearm common in every colonist’s home.
Contrary to the portrayal by anti gun activists, the Brown Bess musket wasn’t just a clumsy hunting weapon with limited range and effectiveness. It was the standard firearm of the British Army and the American colonial militia and capable of accurate fire at 100 yards in the hands of a skilled shooter. The musket was lethal at 150 yards without a problem. It was also used by the colonists for home defense and hunting. Home defense was a significant issue of the day with pirates and Indian tribes both active on a regular basis. Kind of like Venezuelan gangs taking over apartment complexes in our modern era.
Over the course of the American Revolution, one of the keys to the Americans being able to sustain their forces, avoid defeat, and finally win at Yorktown, was the reality that American volunteers for the Continental Army could show up with a musket (or Kentucky Rifle) and ammunition and be, generally, ready to fight. This is the exact reason that the Founders put the 2nd Amendment in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Throughout the vast majority of US history, this was never an idea that was in question. It didn’t become questioned until the 1930’s, but good scholarship (both historical and legal) has made it very clear that the point of the 2nd Amendment is to protect the individual citizen’s right to keep and bear arms in order to defend themselves, their family, their community, and their country.
Today’s Situation
And now we come to the present, where the Democrats/Uniparty have dropped all pretense of “common sense gun regulation” and have made it perfectly clear that they want to ban semi-automatic rifles and begin the confiscation process. Unlike throughout all of our history, in 2024 the United States President does not want American Citizens to have “weapons of war”.
George Washington is rolling in his grave!
Historically lip service, at least, was paid to the founding ideals and the right to keep and bear arms. But this President and Vice President are actively working to make it as difficult as possible to own guns and ammunition. And they talk openly about confiscating our guns and ammunition. The President routinely talks about using the military against citizens. How are we supposed to take that?
The Risk Is Higher Than Ever
And, to make things worse, we are in an era of greatly increased risk to ourselves, our families, our communities, and our country itself. There are at least 20 million illegal aliens in our country right now. And many of them are gang members from very violent criminal gangs in Venezuela, Brazil, El Salvador, and more. Many more are military age men from China. And there are hundreds of confirmed illegal aliens from the Middle East that are on terrorist watch lists. The potential for something like 10/7 in Israel is very high now. Nobody in Israel expected 10/7/23 until it actually happened. But now we are warned and knowledge is power.
Unfortunately, if thousands of illegal aliens make war upon us in our own country, at the beginning the police and military will be overwhelmed and unable to protect us and our communities. Eventually that will change, but it will take days. Israel is far more prepared for domestic violence and it took them a full day to get Hamas’ bloody assault stopped and cost them the lives of 1200 people. That’s in a country of 9 million. If our enemies can pull off a similar attack, that would be tens of thousands dead here in the US.
At the beginning, you are your own self-responder. You will not be able to count on the police or military for at least 24 hours. This means you have to be prepared now, not after the fact. You must be a Minuteman in the great American tradition. And a Minuteman (or woman) needs to be armed. They need to be prepared to take up arms as part of the Militia, which is the general body of capable adult citizens.
The Militia Act Of 1792
We can look to this Act to understand what was meant by the Founders when they said the Militia. First, the act defines the Militia as all able bodied adult male citizens (and of course excluded Indians, slaves, etc as we would expect in that era) between 18 and 45. Then it goes on to tell us how the Militia will be organized, governed, and … very importantly …. armed. The Militia members are expected to arm themselves!
That every citizen, so enrolled and notified [each state is responsible for this], shall, within six months thereafter, provide himself with a good musket or firelock, a sufficient bayonet and belt, two spare flints, and a knapsack, a pouch, with a box therein, to contain not less than twenty four cartridges, suited to the bore of his musket or firelock, each cartridge to contain a proper quantity of powder and ball
Updating the thinking to our modern era, where we don’t exclude on the basis of ethnicity or gender, this means that all able bodied citizens are members of the Militia as understood by the Founders.
Yes, I know all the arguments about the complexity of modern warfare, the National Guard, etc. But that doesn’t change the fact that citizens of a free republic are the militia. The alternative is to be subjects of an authoritarian government as King George III wanted us to be. But if you are a free citizen, then you need to arm yourself to act as part of the militia when necessary.
Not with a Brown Bess musket or Kentucky Rifle, but with the modern equivalent, the semi-automatic rifle. The obvious and clear choice, because of its capability, ubiquity, and commonality of ammunition, parts, and magazines is the AR-15 style rifle. It is today’s Brown Bess.
Become A Minuteman
The most common weapon of today is the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. There are well over 20 million in civilian hands today. It is very similar to the M-16 and M-4 rifles that are the standard weapons of Army, Marine, and National Guard soldiers. The only practical difference is the ability to have selective fire between semi-automatic and automatic fire, which the M-16/M-4 have and the AR-15 does not. Every Minuteman needs an AR-15, magazines, ammunition. And a quality semi-automatic pistol and ammunition.
Beyond that, you need to be prepared. You need to be trained to use your weapons and then you need to practice regularly. You need to be able to legally carry concealed so that you are prepared when outside your home. And more. How about first aid during a high casualty event? Do you have an individual first aid kit (IFAK) handy at all times? Do you have food and water so that you can shelter in place for a week? Do you know your neighbors? Could you defend your neighborhood and home if bad guys showed up intent on doing as much damage as possible?
This is just the beginnings of what you need to do to be a true Minuteman and others have written in much more detail on this than I. I’m just hoping that I can be the catalyst for those who aren’t yet prepared. The risk today is probably as high as it has been in our entire lifetime of significant conflict inside the United States.
Minutemen need to be prepared!
Edit: This has inspired a series about being a modern Minuteman. Check out the top bar for all Minuteman and Prepared posts.
Edit: Thanks to attentive reader P. B. for catching my typo of 10/7/24 rather than 10/7/23. I have updated the post to be correct
My personal favorite is a Suppressed SBR PCC in 9mm 147gr XTP (engage targets out to 200+m) which the same ammo can be used in my semi-auto pistols.