Several states are moving to enact legislation cracking down on paramilitary organizations after a years-long rise in organized political violence across the United States.

In Oregon—where members of movements such as Antifa have regularly clashed with right-wing militant groups in cities like Portland—lawmakers recently proposed legislation to expand the state's definition of "civil disorder" in terms of unlawful paramilitary activity, both in response to recent activity in the state as well as incidents like the right-wing takeover of the state's Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016.

In New Mexico, Democratic lawmakers recently introduced the Unlawful Private Paramilitary Activity Act, a sweeping bill banning paramilitary organizations from performing drills with weapons in a group of three or more people. The measure also outlaws civilian-led "security" functions of groups like the Oath Keepers, which were involved in the assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

And in Vermont on Monday, Republican Governor Phil Scott signed legislation making paramilitary training illegal in Vermont. The penalty is as high as five years in prison for anyone found guilty of engaging in militia-style organizations like one operating in the town of West Pawlet, where a resident allegedly harassed and threatened neighbors while teaching classes focused on "professional gunfighting."

"We're in a different world than we were in even five or 10 years ago, and there are forces looking to destabilize civil society. We can't deny it anymore," the bill's sponsor, Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth, told news outlet VTDigger after the legislation was signed into law. "So this bill is a way of saying, 'Not now, not here, not ever.'"

As of 2020, 29 states had enacted statutes that prohibit groups from organizing as private military units without the authorization of the state government. Twenty-five states had statutes criminalizing activities like teaching others how to use firearms, explosives or techniques capable of causing injury or death with the intent of causing further civil disorder.

Many militia movements operate under their belief in the U.S. Constitution's commitment to a "well-regulated militia." But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1886—and again under a conservative majority in the 2008 case District of Columbia v. Heller—that the well-regulated militia mentioned in the Second Amendment is not to be autonomous but under the purview of the government.

(Finally, showing some sense after years of the national Republican party ignoring and dismissing the problem, and even endorsing the militias as "patriots".)