By By JohnThomas Didymus Mar 6, 2013 in Politics According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) the number of anti-government "patriot groups" reached a new high in 2012 after Obama was reelected and his administration intensified plans for stricter gun control regulations . "Patriot groups" are those committed to the overthrow of the US federal government due to the conviction that the federal government's aim is to restrict individual liberties, confiscate weapons and impose a socialist style of government, According to According to Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the SPLC, the reelection of Barack Obama, the first black president of the US, the flaring up of the gun control debate after the Sandy Hook Newtown, Conn. school massacre, and the "rugged" economic situation are the major factors that led to the dramatic upsurge in numbers and membership of "patriot groups." According to SPLC, the gun control debate following the Newtown, Conn. mass murder of schoolchildren ignited "a kind of white-hot rage" within radical right movements and more mainstream conservative political circles. According to In a letter sent this week to the US Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, the According to The SPLC claimed in the Potok said that SPLC classifies patriot groups as hate organizations because they promote anti-government feelings linked to racism. Cohen noted in the The letter added: "The resources devoted to countering domestic hate and radical anti-government groups and those they may inspire do not appear commensurate with the threat." SPLC said in its The group also reported 1,007 hate groups with "animus" directed at minorities, gay men, lesbians, and transgender individuals in 2012, a slight decrease from the 1,018 in 2011. While the number of hate groups remained essentially unchanged last year — going from 1,018 in 2011 to 1,007 in 2012 — the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) count of 1,360 Patriot groups in 2012 was up about 7% from the 1,274 active in 2011. And that was only the latest growth spurt in the Patriot movement, which generally believes that the federal government is conspiring to take Americans’ guns and destroy their liberties as it paves the way for a global “one-world government.” From a mere 149 organizations in 2008, the number of Patriot groups shot up to 512 in 2009, jumped again to 824 in 2010, and then skyrocketed to 1,274 in 2011 before hitting their all-time high last year. According to But the center has defended itself, saying its researchers employ a variety of methods to classifying groups and that they maintain strict criteria for identifying a group as a "hate group" or an "extremist" group. The state with the most neo-Nazi groups: California, with 9. The state with the most Ku Klux Klan groups: Texas, with 26. The report also identifies "Christian Identity," which according to SPLC are "a religion that is fundamentally racist and anti-Semitic." Texas has the most, with five. "General Hate," defined as groups that are anti-gay, Holocaust deniers, racist musicians or radical traditionalist Catholics. California has the most such groups, with 37. According to the AP , the SPLC's latest annual report on extremist groups in the US was released on Tuesday."Patriot groups" are those committed to the overthrow of the US federal government due to the conviction that the federal government's aim is to restrict individual liberties, confiscate weapons and impose a socialist style of government, The Huffington Post reports.According to Think Progress , the SPLC defines patriot groups as being composed primarily of "conspiracy theory-minded individuals" who are firmly convinced that the federal government is controlled by a clandestine group of "globalists" whose primary agenda is take away the freedoms of Americans and establish a global New world Order (NWO) based on socialism. Think Progress reports the SPLC defines a "militia group" as a paramilitary wing of a "patriot group." SPLC's 2013 report claims that "patriot groups" have expanded dramatically in number and size for the fourth consecutive year.According to Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the SPLC, the reelection of Barack Obama, the first black president of the US, the flaring up of the gun control debate after the Sandy Hook Newtown, Conn. school massacre, and the "rugged" economic situation are the major factors that led to the dramatic upsurge in numbers and membership of "patriot groups." AP reports Potok said: "The anger, angst, frustration, fear surrounding the economy have very much poured fuel on this fire." SPLC reports that another factor in the phenomenal growth in number and size of these groups is the country's shifting demographics. The atmosphere of fear and anxiety has empowered "patriot groups" to promote and bring their conspiracy theories into the mainstream.According to SPLC, the gun control debate following the Newtown, Conn. mass murder of schoolchildren ignited "a kind of white-hot rage" within radical right movements and more mainstream conservative political circles. AP notes, for instance, that in the week after the school shooting, the FBI said it conducted more background checks for firearms sales and permits to carry than in any other one-week period since 1998.According to AP , the SPLC said that the number of "patriot groups" has surged in the last four years, from 149 in 2008 to 1,360 in 2012, an increase of about 7 percent from 1,274 active groups in 2011.In a letter sent this week to the US Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, the SPLC gave warning of increasing risks of incidents of domestic terrorism. The group urged the federal government to set up a task force to assess the resources of the federal government and its ability to face the threat.According to SPLC President Richard Cohen, a member of the Department of Homeland Security's Countering Violent Extremism Working Group, "As in the period before the Oklahoma City bombing, we now are seeing ominous threats from those who believe that the government is poised to take their guns."The SPLC claimed in the letter that the potentials for violence has shifted from "traditional hate groups," such as the neo-Nazis and others opposed to minority groups: blacks, Latinos, Catholics and Muslims.Potok said that SPLC classifies patriot groups as hate organizations because they promote anti-government feelings linked to racism.Cohen noted in the letter : "In January, a former Tennessee police chief who conducts weapons training for law enforcement threatened in a video posted on YouTube to ‘start killing people’ if President Obama uses his executive power to enact gun control measures."The letter added: "The resources devoted to countering domestic hate and radical anti-government groups and those they may inspire do not appear commensurate with the threat."SPLC said in its report that it documented 1,360 patriot groups in 2012, an 813 percent rise compared to 2008, before Obama took office as president. According to SPLC , of the number, 321 were militias. SPLC said these numbers exceed the figures during the 1990s upsurge of the movement following the Brady Bill and the 1994 assault rifle ban.The group also reported 1,007 hate groups with "animus" directed at minorities, gay men, lesbians, and transgender individuals in 2012, a slight decrease from the 1,018 in 2011. SPLC said:According to AP , some critics say that SPLC's definition of "hate" and "extremist group" is too broad and tends to include legitimate political organizations opposed to illegal immigration, gun control and gay rights issues.But the center has defended itself, saying its researchers employ a variety of methods to classifying groups and that they maintain strict criteria for identifying a group as a "hate group" or an "extremist" group. CNN reports that according to SPLC, their categorization of groups was based on information compiled from "field reports, Patriot publications, the Internet, law enforcement sources and news reports." CNN lists some major highlights of the report: More about SPLC, patriot groups, antiobama More news from SPLC patriot groups antiobama