The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution states: “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 ” (US Const. Amendment 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 militia groups 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 homeland security of the United States. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayMost militia groups are made up of private citizens who use their own weapons and ammunition to practice military training in case of some kind of disaster, the collapse of government or social order, or for fight the government should it fall into tyranny. Such militias do not include private security companies or government militaries such as the National Guard, although many members of right-wing militia groups have military experience. Names such as “right-wing militia” and “militia group” are general terms used to describe the wide variety of groups within the United States that share some ideological and behavioral similarities. Most support some type of nationalism, strongly support constitutionalism, tend to be Christian, and almost always have an interest in firearms. Subsets include tax protesters, sovereign citizens, white supremacists, anti-abortionists, and Christian extremists. While some militia groups such as the Three Percent United Patriots have carried out service or aid work following the Flint, Michigan water crisis, and floods in Louisiana and South Carolina, the actions of other groups are much more defiant and instigative (Bauer , 2016). In October 2016, three men in Kansas were arrested for plotting to blow up a housing project housing many Somali immigrants. All three were revealed to be members of a small militia group called the Kansas Security Force, a group that championed the sovereign citizen movement and anti-government beliefs and harbored an intense hatred toward immigrants and Muslims (Ellis, 2016). Although the group has distanced itself from the men, a leader of the Three Percent Patriots United, a Colorado-based militia group, said, "I worry every day that the people who join the militia will go out and do something" when they are told asked whether its members would ever commit an attack against a politician or member of the public (Bauer, 2016). The militia movement first came to mainstream America's attention following the Oklahoma City bombing for which Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were held responsible by detonating a 3.5-ton bomb that killed 168 people and destroyed l The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The two had met at a boot camp while serving in the army and shared some radical views on government (Andryszewski, 1997). While living together after leaving the Army, the two men witnessed a fire outbreak at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, where the ATF and FBI had unsuccessfully attempted to execute a search warrant for federal weapons charges. The fire caused thedeaths of 76 men, women and children in addition to the 6 Branch Davidians and 4 ATF agents killed in 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 in the Ruby Ridge incident, in which 14-year-old Sammy Weaver was shot in the back and killed while fleeing from U.S. Marshals while his mother Vicki Weaver was killed by an FBI. sniper holding his 9-month-old baby (Major Frederick D. Wong, 2011). The Oklahoma City bombing brought to light the anti-government, sovereign citizen and militia movements that had been largely confined to Internet forums and gun shows. It also demonstrated the enormous danger these people posed to the federal government and even ordinary citizens. Militias increased the 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 led many Republicans and conservatives to join or form militias. Many groups have sprung up in states bordering Mexico and now patrol the border areas with their own time and money to fight drug dealers, human traffickers, and illegal immigrants (Bauer, 2016). Such 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 an urgent threat to national security. First, the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security stated that right-wing militias pose the most urgent threat to U.S. homeland security in the Law Enforcement Assessment of the Violent Extremism Threat (Kurzman & Shanzer, 2015). The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks the number of extremist groups in the United States, said that 276 right-wing groups were brought to their attention in 2016, a 37 percent increase from the 202 known groups in 2014 (2014). According to New America, a think tank that compiles statistics on terrorist activity in the United States (Bergen, Ford, Sims & Sterman, 2016), right-wing groups have killed about half as many people in the United States as Islamic terrorists. A six-month investigation conducted by TIME magazine in 2010 revealed that more and more militia groups are preparing for real war and that the FBI and state investigators are examining the activities of such groups more carefully (Gellman, 2010 ). But in addition to the growing number of militia groups, the cultural and operational aspects of militia groups also contribute to the dangerousness of these groups. Many militia groups 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 procurement of weapons, the intrinsic link between beliefs and violence, and the use of propaganda to promote their cause are all activities conducted by both foreign and domestic militant groups (Wong, 2011). They pose another threat in their ability to carry out attacks within the United States much more easily than Islamic groups consider the greatest national security threat. Foreign organizations must infiltrate the United States, evading intelligence services and controls.