Category:United States private paramilitary groups

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The category United States private paramilitary groups includes private militias in the United States "militia movement." These groups are organized privately by armed individuals who establish their own leaderships and lines of responsibility.

While members of such groups believe such militias are approved or endorsed by law, particularly by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, they are in no way public authorities or organized military or National Guard units of the country or their state. They are private citizens, in voluntary association, and self-funded. The United States armed forces do not recognize them as constituents, or relate with them, and such militias are often highly controversial.

These paramilitary groups generally refer to themselves as part of the unorganized militia, as defined in Title 10 of the United States Code, section 311:

§ 311. Militia: composition and classes

(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.

(b) The classes of the militia are—

(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and

(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.

In addition, most states have similar laws, automatically making all citizens between certain age ranges members of the militia.