Talk:Opening fire
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Markr (talk | contribs) at 16:46, December 1, 2008. It may differ significantly from current revision.
Yes indeed, the military is forbidden by law to engage civilians within the US unless martial law is declared, they are not a police force. Markr 11:18, 1 December 2008 (EST)
- Two questions:
- Does this only apply to federal forces such as the Army, or also to National Guard units under control of a state governor?
- Are you saying that the National Guard is not allowed to return fire, if attacked by civilians?
- We need documentation for the above, as the issues involved have a bearing on the Kent State incident, as well as the Fallujah incident overseas.
- The obvious part is that armed men should not wantonly kill unarmed civilians, especially when they're peacefully going about their business. The difficult part is determining when this rule is being violated. --Ed Poor Talk 11:22, 1 December 2008 (EST)
- "The U.S. military operates under the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the direct use of federal troops "to execute the laws" of the United States. The courts have interpreted this to mean that the military is prohibited from any active role in direct civilian law enforcement, such as search, seizure or arrest of civilians." http://www.geocities.com/defendrights/military.html
Note: National Guard operates under slightly different rules since it is a State body under control of the State Governor. Markr 11:46, 1 December 2008 (EST)