<i>Standing armed forces protect our national integrity, and state&#x2F;county&#x2F;municipal agencies maintain local order. Aren&#x27;t local militias effectively obsolete?</i><p>Echoing Pyxl101, &quot;Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?&quot; (&quot;Who will guard the guards themselves?&quot;).  We gun owners believe we provide a needed bulwark against the worst forms of tyranny, and certainly notice that 20th Century tyrants for some inexplicable reason fell disarming targeted populaces was a prerequisite to slaughtering them wholesale.  Given what an abattoir the 20th Century turned out to be, maybe you should seriously consider that bit of unpleasant history?