What’s motivating the armed protesters who occupied Oregon’s Malheur National Wildlife Refuge last week?

A local sheriff explained it this way: they came,

claiming to be part of militia groups supporting local ranchers. In reality, [they] had alternative motives to attempt to overthrow the county and federal government in hopes to spark a movement across the United States.

Ammon Bundy, a leader of the protesters, named their group “Citizens for Constitutional Freedom.” He described their cause this way:

The United States Justice Department has no jurisdiction or authority within the state of Oregon, county of Harney over this type of ranch management. These lands are not under U.S. treaties or commerce … and Congress does not have unlimited power.

Bundy and his supporters—with guns in tow—want to challenge what they see as government overreach. They believe their method of protest is firmly American and patriotic, reminiscent of armed protests against government tyranny in the Revolutionary War. Some protesters have even donned Colonial garb to underline this point. But as someone who has studied the philosophical foundations of the Second Amendment, I would argue that their actions are detrimental to our democracy.

The right to shoot tyrants

The protesters have been eager to play up the air of civilian rebellion. Bundy spoke of liberating the land for people to use “without fear as free men and women.”

